


Hart of Gold

by Ultra



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Office, Angst, Co-workers, Con Artists, Drama & Romance, F/M, Family, Forbidden Love, Friendship, Lies, Memory Loss, Misunderstandings, Romance, Secret Identity, Secrets, Team as Family, True Love, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-03
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2017-12-07 09:41:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 39
Words: 106,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/747056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern Day AU. Isabelle Hart is the latest alias of a legendary grifter and thief. Her latest con involves bringing down ruthless business tycoon, Robert Gold, but this particular job was never her idea...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've had the idea for absolutely ages but I wasn’t sure I could execute it well. Now it’s time to find out! I have to say, not only is this heavily influenced by the awesome TV series Leverage, I don’t think it ever would have come to be if not for two wonderful fanfics; Tea With The Devil by Hikari no Chibi, for inspiring me to write an AU like this, and Can't Take The Sky by Fyre, for making me realise you can put the OUAT characters into another ‘verse you love and make it work. Now, without further ado...

After the black pillowcase was taken off her head, it took the poor woman a moment to regain her focus. The light was too bright and the bindings at her wrists were really starting to chafe, but she wasn’t afraid. Too many things had happened in her life for a simple thing like kidnapping to cause fear and panic. This was a pretty average day, all told, except for the person sat before her being the last one she ever expected.

“Really? You had me abducted?” she asked with a look. “Why?”

“We meet again, Miss Hart,” Regina Mills leaned back in her desk chair and smiled like a crocodile figuring out the best way to eat you. “That is your name these days, isn’t it? Isabelle Hart?” she checked, leaning in a moment to grab her paperwork and flip through the pages.

“You know it is,” Isabelle replied, trying to keep the venom out of her tone. “You know everything, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to get me back here.”

Regina continued to grin, even though she was riled. She didn’t really want this young woman here anymore than the so-called Isabelle Hart wanted to have been brought. The fact was, she needed her. She was the only woman capable of taking on the job she had in mind, and so they must form an alliance of a kind. The fact the deal was being struck with one of them in restraints probably wouldn’t seem to bode well to any outsider, but then most did not understand the world they operated in.

From the outside, Regina Mills was seen as the completely capable, ball-breaking businesswoman who had built Regal Corp up from mediocre status to an incredibly successful conglomerate since her husband’s death. That was a tiny piece of a much larger, darker, and nastier puzzle, that Isabelle knew more details of than she really wished to. Fortunately, the world at large saw her as whatever she chose to be, and there were but a handful of people alive that knew her real name. That was how it had to be when you were one of the greatest grifters and thieves the world had ever seen.

“Come along, Miss Hart... or may I call you Isabelle?” asked Regina as if she were the most reasonable woman in the world. “Perhaps you prefer one of your other aliases. Frances Booker? Bella White? Jolie Walton?” she tried from the list before her. “Tell me, do you even remember your real name anymore?”

It was a ridiculous question. As if any person, no matter how many personas they spun themselves into, could ever forget who they truly were. Belinda French. It was the one name guaranteed not to be on the list Regina held in her finely manicured hands. Even her closest friends never used it, preferring simply to call her Belle, the name her father had used for her since she was so small she barely recalled it herself.

“One would hope you didn’t bring me here just to discuss my name,” she replied, trying to make herself look comfortable and relaxed, even with her wrists bound together and ankles lashed to the chair legs.

“Indeed,” Regina replied, her smile slipping into a scowl. “As we both know, you ought to be the last person I want to do business with, but on this occasion I really have no choice,” she explained, dismissing the two over-sized men that had been flanking the door this whole time.

Something so big and so secretive even Regina’s dearest minions were not allowed to know about it? Now Belle really was intrigued! Of course, she ought to have known how major this deal had to be for the very fact she was a part of it. Just a year ago now, Belle had been involved in a battle against this woman, a string of cons that had ensured Regina lost her adopted son Henry back to the boy’s birth mother. There was not even a tiny part of the grifter that felt sorry for this woman, even after what she had done. After all, Regina was the bad guy here, and Emma Swann had been desperate for help. Belle and her old team, that was what they did, used their skills to help those who could not help themselves, who the authorities had no time for or could not legally get justice for. That team had broken up after that very job, the one that resulted in a happy reunion between birth mother and son, and one very pissed off Regina Mills.

“Come on, Regina. Don’t be shy,” said Belle, deliberately poking the bear just to prove she could. “If there’s something you want from me...”

“Believe me when I tell you, I wish I didn’t,” the businesswoman replied succinctly, punctuating her sentence with the resonating thump of the desk drawer closing.

A folder landed in front of Belle and was swiftly opened to reveal a page full of details on one side and a photograph on the other. Belle knew the name as well as anyone, but the face was a surprise. So this was what the reclusive man of business they called Robert Gold looked like. He really wasn’t at all what Belle had been expecting, if she had expected anything at all. What she really wanted to know now was why she was looking at him. The question must’ve been written on her face when she glanced up at Regina then and saw her slowly smile.

“This is the man I need you to deal with,” she explained, with a look akin to a snake - Belle never flinched.

“Deal with how exactly?” she asked curiously instead.

The phrase could be taken in all manner of ways. For all that she was, Belle didn’t kill people, but she did do almost everything else. Relieving them of their money was her speciality, but she had other tricks up her sleeve too...

“In short, I want him destroyed,” said Regina simply, leaning back in her seat with her hands folded neatly in her lap. “You think I’m a devious, manipulator of business, Ms Hart? You never met Gold. He invented the kind of games I excel at, and he cheats at every single one.”

Belle wouldn’t usually take anything out of Regina’s mouth to be the truth but she knew the stories about Gold. He had a reputation as black as night, and though she had never directly crossed him before, she had dealt with several of his connections. His was the one name they feared. Even the most despicable of wretches she had put down quaked at the thought of getting on his bad side. For Belle to bring him down alone, without preparation of any kind, it would be impossible. Well, maybe not impossible, but certainly not as easy as Regina seemed to think.

“Setting up a long con on this guy could take months, maybe years, especially if he’s smart as he seems,” she explained with a shake of her head. “I don’t have much research on him, or a plan...”

“That’s taken care of,” Regina cut in, producing further reading on the elusive Mr Gold. “The research is done, everything that can be found, and yet there is no actual solid proof that’ll help me see him cut down legally,” she explained with frustration evident in her tone and looks. “He excels at contracts and deals. His paperwork is perfect, at least everything I can get to,” she explained. “That’s where you come in,” she smiled slyly once more.

Belle didn’t really know what to think. She had no wish at all to say she couldn’t complete this job. Whatever Regina had in mind, it was doubtless going to push her skills to their limits. Still, a true test of ones talents was to go up against the best there was and win. Gold certainly was the best, even Regina had to admit it.

“You want to ship me off to Scotland?” she asked then, eyes roaming over the information available to her without the need to turn pages, after all, her wrists were still bound to the chair yet.

“No, and that is the beauty of the timing in this plan,” explained Regina with a look. “Though Gold has always conducted his business affairs from his ancestral home back in good old bonnie Scotland, he has finally decided to make a second home here in the States,” she went on, turning pages over until Belle could see the proof of it. “With the economy the way it is, apparently things here are bad enough he doesn’t trust his lackeys to handle things anymore,” she went on, though Belle stopped listening so much as she was given the chance to read.

Gold had an empire and ruled over it from afar up to now, just visiting America at semi-regular intervals. Lately, the man that all but ran things over here had proved to be a problem, in that he had up and killed himself. Gold would not trust another to take his place and so had bought a home here in New York and had brought himself over to run things himself, at least for now.

Belle couldn’t question the perfect timing Regina spoke of. This was home turf for the grifter and thief, despite her original origins being far away around the globe. What mattered was that Gold was close by and trying to run a business, trusting next to no-one. Belle could use that, she could ingratiate herself into his business, prove herself useful, and later indispensable. Without Regina ever explaining the details she had planned, Belle already had an idea in her head of how this all might play out.

“So, you think you can do it?” the businesswomen was suddenly asking and the grifter belatedly realised she had not been listening at all, quite hypnotised by the documents and photographs before her.

“I never came up against a job I couldn’t complete,” she replied generically. “I also never had someone else set up my work for me like this,” she said, with a pointed struggle against her bonds.

Regina’s eyes narrowed. She seemed to almost be reconsidering her whole plan right now and Belle could read every step of her thinking through her expressive dark eyes. She wanted this done, this man brought down in every way possible. Not just his business crippled, but the man himself thoroughly destroyed. Of course, she was also wondering if her evil plan should really be put in the hands of a woman she really couldn’t entirely trust.

“You went to all this trouble to bring me here,” said Belle then. “You know there’s no-one better for the task, so why the sudden doubts?” she asked, even though she already knew the reason before Regina ever spoke it.

The fact was, she wasn’t entirely sure why she was suddenly fighting so hard to be given this job. It would be that much easier to wriggle out of it. Belle had no wish whatsoever to work for Regina, the very type of person she fought against in her day to day works. Still, Gold was supposed to be that much worse, and giving up an opportunity to destroy him would be pure insanity.

“I can’t trust you,” she said succinctly. “At least, I wouldn’t be able to, if I didn’t have some... insurance,” Regina smiled slowly then.

The next folder to land on the table before Belle was red in colour, and the photograph clipped to the front made her heart skip. She audibly gasped before she had a chance to check herself, letting Regina know she had won this battle if not the war.

“I’ll do whatever you want,” said Belle, trying to keep the shake out of her voice but failing miserably.

“Oh, I know you will,” her adversary grinned akin to a crocodile. “And when this is over, I will rule not only this town, but the entire market,” she told a slightly quaking Belle. “Gold won’t know what hit him.”

_To Be Continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

Belle stood before the foreboding looking edifice and glanced up. Fifty floor buildings should not be so impressive in any normal circumstance, but then they were not often inhabited solely by the employees of one empire. Here was the headquarters of Gold Industries, run by its namesake, the incorrigible Robert Gold, with whom Belle must now acquaint herself.

This whole plan didn’t exactly sit well with her. It wasn’t that she had any particular qualms about taking down a man like Gold. On the contrary, her work for years now had been of this type, seeing to it that men and women of business and status were taught a lesson about abusing their influence and power. She took away their ill-gotten gains and handed them over to those much more deserving. Some landed in jail, others simply in financial ruin or public disgrace. For Gold, she could foresee any or all of the above being the outcome.

What rankled with Belle about this entire situation was that she had not decided to put herself in it. Regina Mills had seen to it that her hands were tied, that she must complete the task set, or others would suffer the consequences, others that she held so very dear. Yes, Belle was up to the job, but no, she did not appreciate that she must complete it for someone as odious and despicable as the head of Regal Corp. She looked at Regina and Gold as two of a kind, and would rather see an end to both their empires than just one for another. Perhaps that could yet be arranged, Belle smiled to herself, the first time today she had a thought that really pleased her. No plan was set in stone unless she let it be, after all.

Taking a deep breath, Belle finally stepped into the revolving door that took her inside. A docile blonde at the main reception desk took her name, checking the computer, and agreeing that she was in fact due to start work today. The girl, bearing a name badge that read ‘Ashley’, made a quick internal call as Belle waited impatiently, finger nails tapping on the desk.

How she had managed to skip the interview process entirely was simple enough. Regina knew the right people, Belle herself knew the right things to say, and the correct methods of hacking and deception. She was the new girl in the upper office of Gold Industries before the previous holder of the job had hardly finished packing her desk.

“You can go up now,” Ashley smiled some just as soon as she ended her call, gesturing towards the bank of elevators to the left.

“The fiftieth floor?” Belle checked, already sure the was correct.

She was quite surprised when Ashley laughed at her.

“Forty eighth,” she corrected the new girl. “The top two floors are Mr Gold’s private apartment.”

“He lives up there?” said Belle, more to herself than anyone since Ashley had since become distracted by another call.

This wasn’t what she had been told. Regina’s information suggested Gold had bought a house in town when he made the move from Scotland. Belle hadn’t memorised the address since she had no need to right now, but she did know nothing had been said about him living at the top of the company tower block. It was curious and eccentric, but not an entirely ridiculous idea. These rich businessmen could afford to do whatever they wanted, however strange it might seem to the so-called lesser beings.

Belle checked her watch and noted she had just five minutes to get up to the forty eighth floor if she was to be on time. She quickened her pace and caught the elevator just in time before the doors closed. Inside she found only three other people, two of which never even shifted their gaze as she slipped in beside them. The third was more curious.

“First day?” asked the smiling man beside Belle.

“Yes,” she agreed, returning the look. “I hope this is a fast trip up. I don’t want to be late, not after the things I’ve heard about Mr Gold’s temper.”

The man beside her shifted awkwardly, as she expected he might. No doubt saying such things about the boss was frowned upon, but getting the lay of the land here was entirely her intention.

“Um, I’m Dr Hopper,” he said, instead of responding to her comment.

His avoidance was quite enough to make Belle realise she had ventured into territory she should not have entered into.

“Isabelle Hart,” she responded, holding out her hand for him to shake. “Doctor? So you’re the company medic?” she checked, at which he chuckled.

“Not exactly,” he explained , just as the elevator stopped and it’s other two occupants disembarked, leaving Belle alone with her new acquaintance. “I’m a therapist. I work with Human Resources, doing what I can with people’s stress levels and such.”

“Ah,” she nodded in response, a smile creeping onto her lips unbidden. “I’m sure they keep you busy here, Dr Hopper.”

“Please, just call me Archie,” he insisted. “And honestly, I... I have enough to do,” he replied vaguely.

They travelled in silence for the next few floors and just seven below Belle’s destination, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Archie moved to get out.

“It was very nice to meet you Isabelle,” he told her, with what she knew was a genuine grin.

“And you, Archie,” she agreed. “Though you really should just call me Belle, everyone does.”

He nodded his agreement and said something in the vein of ‘see you around’ as the doors slid shut then, leaving Belle alone. She huffed out a breath as the elevator once again began to move. From just that brief conversation with one employee she could tell that the things she heard about the way Gold ran his business must be true. One slight hint of a word against the big scary boss man and even a clear sweetheart like Archie got the jitters. He made no moves to defend the honour of his employer, but at the same time was clearly too uncomfortable as to say anything bad that might get back to Gold.

The elevator reached its final destination and the doors opened with the usual ping. Here she was about to embark on the biggest long con she had pulled in a while. Belle was surprisingly unmoved by the whole thing as she stepped out of the car, smiling like it was going out of style. She was every inch the eager new employee without a worry in the world of what might become of her here.

“Hello?” she said, to the first woman that stepped into her path.

The other young woman didn’t even glance up, but when her hand pushed her hair back from her face, Belle realised she was talking on the phone via a Bluetooth device at her ear.

“I don’t care if they decided not to stock it anymore! He wants it, so get some,” she barked. “If it needs importing, then import it! Charter a boat, commandeer a plane, just do it!” she snapped, ending the call abruptly then.

Belle’s mouth was open as if to speak again, and yet no words had come out and were not given a chance to. Even an experienced grifter such as herself was a little taken aback by how fast this woman went from yelling her head off to smiling politely and welcoming her aboard the good ship Gold!

“You must be Isabelle,” she said, sweet as honey but just as genuine as anything, it seemed. “And right on time. Another minute and you might’ve gotten yourself into trouble.”

“I suppose I did cut it fine...” Belle started, but was unapologeticaly interrupted all over again as the other woman grabbed her arm.

“It’s fine, don’t worry bout it,” she assured her. “Now, my name is Ruby, and all you need to know you can learn from me,” she explained, dragging Belle further into the office.

“Okay, um, you can just call me Belle,” she said, keeping to her shy and nervous persona for now.

Ruby was clearly a large personality, which the grifter had some respect for. Still, playing wallflower was good for her character right now. She needed to get to know the lay of the land here, who could be trusted and who couldn’t, what the general opinion of Gold was. The easiest way was by letting herself be led and influenced a while, or at least appear to.

“Belle, huh? That’s cool,” Ruby nodded, before moving on quickly. “So, up here there are just the five of us,” she explained, turning the new recruit into the kitchen off to the side of the open plan office.

There was a cup of coffee thrust into Belle’s hands a moment later, for which she muttered her thanks. Peering over the brim, she took a good look at Ruby. She wasn’t entirely sure what she might have expected as one of Gold’s closest personal assistants. The red streaks in her hair and very high-hemmed skirt didn’t scream class, but then maybe Gold had a thing for much younger woman. That would help Belle some since she wasn’t much different in age to Ruby herself, but she wasn’t exactly dressed in the same style today...

“I say five staff, but usually it’s four,” Ruby went on to explain, sipping her own coffee and gesturing for Belle to follow her back out into the office, all the time moving and chattering. “That’s Kathryn and Astrid over there. They’re like the B team, y’know? Filing, archiving, doughtnut runs, the usual crap that nobody else has time for,” she muttered behind her hand. “You and me, we’re the A team. We report direct to Mr Gold and pretty much do whatever he asks.”

Belle put on her best panicked expression and a deliberate shake in her voice when she spoke then.

“Whatever he asks?” she checked, and though she was acting the terrified virgin, she was at least a little bit genuine in her worry.

She wasn’t above a little seduction if it was necessary to get the job done, but their were limits. If this guy wanted to get all Fifty Shades of Grey on her, Belle wasn’t sure she was okay with that. Remembering what Regina had threatened made her think she might have to, but she’d rather avoid it if she could.

“Oh my God, no!” Ruby was laughing so hard that Belle felt as insulted as she did relieved somehow. “I mean, not that the boss doesn’t appreciate the view or whatever, he is a guy after all, but he would never... y’know, make demands. That’s not him,” she assured her new colleague.

“Right, good. Sorry about that” Belle smiled sweet as she could manage. “Um, you said there were five people working here sometimes?” she asked then, looking from Ruby to Kathryn and Astrid, then back again.

“Oh right, yeah. The fifth is Granny,” she explained. “Her name is Ms Lucas, but she’s so like a grandma to everybody, it’s like a nickname. She’s totally cool with it.”

Belle nodded her understanding as Ruby went on to explain how Granny only worked two days a week now, helping out when things were particularly busy or something. She was technically semi-retired. Belle was trying to listen, she really was, but Ruby could talk a mile a minute and on so many different topics one after the other, it was easy to get lost in it all.

The office and the people in it seemed normal enough, nice even. Belle would have to try to remind herself not to get too comfortable here, as she sat down at the desk Ruby said was to be hers and sipped her coffee. So far, so friendly, but this company would be going under before long, and by her own hand. She could not afford to get too attached, that was for sure.

“Ooh, talk of the devil,” hissed Ruby then, taking the cup from Belle’s hands and putting it on the desk as she stood up.

Belle followed suit, turning around to see a man striding in through the main door to the office. He looked different to the pictures Regina had. Belle couldn’t put her finger on what it was but somehow he looked less dark and nasty. Just as fierce and full of power, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Good morning, sir,” said Ruby with a winning smile just as soon as Gold drew closer. “This is Isabelle Hart, the newest member of the team.”

Gold stopped all of three paces in front of Belle and looked her over. His gaze was burning, almost smouldering. That surprised her, but not as much as the smile that came to his lips when he finally met her eyes.

“Miss Hart,” he greeted her politely, reaching to take her hand and shake it gently. “You come with some quite impressive references. I look forward to our working together,” he told her.

“Thank you... sir,” she replied in the way she thought most befitting, following Ruby’s example.

The very next moment, Gold had let go of her hand and was striding by to his office, aided by a cane that Belle had not noticed until this moment. As he went, he called sharply to Ruby that he wanted her in his office in five minutes with his morning coffee, ready to take a letter. The other young woman immediately jumped to attention, promising Belle she would be back soon to talk her through her tasks and everything she needed to know. Apparently she was already sure the new recruit was going to fit in just fine.

Belle smiled to herself as she retook her seat and picked up her coffee once again. So far, so good.


	3. Chapter 3

Belle felt underwhelmed. It was a fairly normal feeling for a woman as smart and beautiful as she, and yet she had not expected it to come upon her here. Gold Industries was such an impressive company, so they said, and its boss such a tyrant, she really expected to be overcome by her first day in the top office here. Instead, she was decidedly let down so far.

By midday, Ruby had been given a chance to show Belle the basics of her job. The computer programs used, which were basic enough, and the filing system that was no more complicated than the alphabet and a little colour coding. For someone as sharp and quick on the uptake as the grifter, these things were nothing much to learn.

Since then, Belle had been correlating paperwork and updating records, basic things she assumed a trained monkey could be taught to do in not much more than a couple of days actually. It was almost demeaning, and yet Belle painted on a smile and did what she was told without a fuss. She needed to fit in here, and there was no better way she could think of than to buckle down to her so-called work and act as if she loved every moment of it.

The clock rolled around to one o’clock before too long, and above the whispered chattering of Kathryn and Astrid on the phones, Belle heard Ruby call her name.

“C’mon,” she gestured towards the door, hefting her purse higher on her shoulder. “It’s lunchtime.”

“Oh, okay,” said Belle with a forced smile as she saved what she had been doing on the computer and moved to get up.

No sooner had she gotten to her feet than the comm buzzer went off on the desk, making her start. She frowned at the old-fashioned device as if it were an unexploded bomb, then quickly recovered and pushed the button to answer.

“Yes, Mr Gold?” she said, glancing sideways at Ruby.

The other P.A. rushed over to the new girl’s side.

“Miss Hart,” Mr Gold’s voice came loud and clear in response. “I need you to come into my office.”

“But I was just...” she began, about to make her excuses when she suddenly realised Ruby was making throat slashing gestures and mouthing ‘no’ repeatledy. “I mean, yes, sir,” she said instead, before releasing the button on the comm and standing up again. “I thought we were going to lunch?”

“First rule of Gold Industries,” said Ruby with a look, as she took Belle by the shoulders and turned her to face Gold’s office door. “When the boss says jump, we ask how high,” she said, giving her new colleague a little shove.

Belle winced with the force of not reacting badly. She was now being summoned to Gold’s office like a schoolgirl being called to see the headmaster, and literally pushed around by some admin assistant, when she was supposed to be going to lunch. It didn’t thrill her to be in such a position, especially when she knew it was for the long haul. This was definitely going to be a long con, no way around that. She was going to have to learn to be amongst people again, and remember that she couldn’t always be in charge of every situation she found herself in.

“What can I do for you, Mr Gold?” she asked with a large fake smile, and her best docile little girl eyelash flutter, as she peeked her head around his door.

“You can actually come into my office like I asked you to,” he told her without even looking up from his paperwork. “Shut the door, sit down.”

He made a vague gesture towards the chair in front of his desk, but never offered to glance up even once. It was degrading and rude, but Belle bit her lip. If she angered the boss on the first day she’d be out on her ear before she hardly started, and that would be bad. Regina would not be pleased and the revenge she threatened on those Belle held most dear would be exacted. That could not be allowed to happen; this job had to be done, and done right.

A good two or three full minutes passed in which Belle sat in the green leather chair across the desk from Gold, and he just carried on working as if she weren’t there at all. Belle didn’t mind so very much, it gave her a chance to cast her eyes over the office, get a feel for the stage as it were. Her plan was to spend as much time in this room as possible, rather than the outer office with the other girls. She had to be Gold’s favourite, earn his trust and be invaluable. Right now he seemed to turn mostly to Ruby and she was nice enough, but Belle decided not to become too attached to the other young woman. She wasn’t here to make friends, she was here to bring down an enemy of the people. For this to work, she had to be concentrated on her goal and not allow anyone to throw her off course. If she must trample over Ruby to get to Gold then so be it, however awkward it made things.

It was all very old-fashioned in here, Belle realised. Despite the building looking pretty modern from the outside, and the latest business methods being employed to run Gold Industries to its best possible capacity, it seemed the owner and boss was far less up-to-date in his decor and such. The furniture was wholly wooden, with leaded glass panels in the drinks cabinet and leather covered seats. Traditional, that was the word, quite smart actually, but perhaps more what her father would find acceptable than Belle herself. Gold was quite a bit older than her though. If the file Regina had was true, he would be almost twice her young age, though he wore it well, that much she would have to admit.

“Right then,” he said so suddenly that Belle almost jumped, but covered it just in time. “Miss Hart,” he said, pushing aside the papers he’d been working on and pulling a new file onto the desk instead. “Welcome to Gold Industries.”

“Thank you, sir,” she replied politely. “It’s a pleasure to be here,” she smiled, deliberately fidgeting a little as if nervous, just to make the part more believable.

“And we’re certainly glad to have you,” Gold said evenly, eyes flitting from the pages before him to her face and back. “Your qualifications and references all look to be in order. I’m quite impressed that a young woman like yourself has already made such a mark on the world of business.”

“I work hard. I think it’s the only proper way,” she replied, hands folding and unfolding in her lap, eyes dropping to her shoes a moment.

He had to buy that she was feeling awkward, vulnerable, a little afraid even. It was the normal set of emotions and reactions for a young woman in her position, a large part of the role to be played. If she came off too over-confident or similar he might see through her or suspect. He might not want her around if she seemed a bit too clever either.

“Aye, dearie. Hard work has got me where I am today,” Gold smiled in such a way as to make Belle shudder, and she honestly wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad feeling. “I’m sure you and I are gonna get along famously.”

“I’m sure we will, Mr Gold,” nodded Belle. “I’m sure you’re a fair and reasonable person to work for.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far,” he told her with a hint of a smirk, a joke she was sure, and yet Belle wondered...

All the stories she had heard about Gold and the way he did business, she knew her own comments were a joke he would never notice, and yet he came back with a gag of his own, or what he perceived to be amusing. It made Belle feel sick to her stomach that someone like him could make light of the wrong he had done, the people he hurt, the lives he ruined, the deceit and the pain and...

“You had your interview with Mrs Potts, I see,” he commented, glancing back down at he paperwork on his desk. “In our HR department?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Belle agreed with a nod. “Nice lady,” she added as an afterthought, a comment meant to prove she had in fact met this woman who in fact she couldn’t pick out of a line up!

“Indeed,” Gold nodded once. “Well, of course, you won’t be seeing her again for a good long while, since she went on Maternity Leave the day after your interview,” he smiled that same shudder-inducing smile again that Belle tried to steel herself against.

Of course, that was not the only thing she was trying not to react to. Gold was prodding into the way she had come to be employed here. Though it was normal for Gold not to interview all the staff himself, relying instead on in-depth questionnaires and his other reliable members of the team to do such things for him, Belle knew it had to be extraordinary for such a position of trust to be filled by someone he had never set eyes on before. It was luck and nothing more that meant the fake interview could be attributed to a woman who left the company for a year’s absence the very next day. A little forgery and doctored paperwork in the system, a couple of Regina’s people already planted in Gold’s building, and it was fairly simple to fool the computer system, the other staff, and consequently Gold into thinking that Belle was just perfect for the job on his personal assistant team, regardless of the fact she had no qualifications, references, experience, or even got through a real interview. As all women knew, sometimes in life you just had to fake it and hope for the best.

“I’m very grateful for this opportunity, Mr Gold,” she said then, back to fluttery eyelashes and sweet smiles of girlish charm. “To work so closely with someone as highly regarded in the world of business as you, I... I never thought to have such an opportunity as this,” she told him.

That last part was at least the truth. A chance to bring down a man like him was a once in a life time chance. Regina may be using her, threatening her even, but this job Belle might just have pulled for nothing given half the chance. Bringing down Gold would be her ultimate challenge but also her ultimate triumph if she could pull it off. Oh, if her old team could see her now...

“Well, I’m glad we had this little chat, Miss Hart,” said Gold at last, closing the folder on his desk and folding his hands on top. “Now, you run along, there’s a good girl. I’m sure you’re impatient to get your lunch by now.”

“Thank you, sir,” Belle replied, practically curtseying as she got up from her seat and turned to leave.

Inside she was seething at the attitude of this great oaf of a man. To think he could look down his nose at her like that, to call her a good girl, as if she were a five year old, or worse a lap dog! It was insufferable, but Belle had endured worse, and it would be worth it in the end. She had her smile painted back on as if nothing was wrong when she came out of the office door. She found Ruby sitting on the edge of the desk, her legs swinging back and forth as if she were a bored child.

“You okay?” she asked, tucking a bright red streak of hair behind her ear as she hopped to her feet.

“Yes,” Belle assured her. “I just... I think that was Mr Gold’s idea of a welcome and putting me at ease, maybe? He just made me so nervous,” she lied, forcing a visible shudder that wasn’t actually as difficult to make happen as she thought it might be.

“He does that at first,” Ruby rolled her eyes as she move to link arms with Belle. “But don’t worry, he’s not so bad. Now, lets go to lunch already, I have to fill you in on all the gossip about everybody.”

“Okay,” she agreed too easily on purpose as she allowed herself to be led out of the office and into the elevator.

Ruby hit the button for the ground floor, and began to talk about some cafe down the street where she usually ate and how Belle would love it there. Apparently there was some hottie named Peter that delivered the bread, and Ruby had her eye on him. Belle wasn’t entirely listening, just enough to nod and smile in the right places. The other half of her brain was working on ways to squeeze actual useful information out of her new colleague and supposed friend. She certainly was the chatty type, it shouldn’t be that hard.

“You don’t like any of the guys who work here?” she asked in all innocence, just as soon as Ruby stopped to breathe. “I mean, I haven’t met many of them yet but there must be some good looking men at Gold Industries, right? It’s a very big building!”

“There are some decent guys here,” Ruby conceded. “But work and pleasure, mixing them up doesn’t always end well,” she sighed. “Just ask Ashley on the front desk. Poor girl...”

And so began a long story about how the perky receptionist Belle had met on her way in this morning had got herself pregnant by one of the Directors hot-but-unavailable sons. Belle once again tuned out half the tale and listened only when she really felt it necessary. These gossipy stories were not going to help her bring down Robert Gold and his giant web of companies that screwed over the less fortunate, that was for sure.

“Of course, the hottest guy that ever worked at Gold was Hatter. Poor guy,” Ruby said suddenly as they headed out the front doors of the building and the midday sun hit Belle right between the eyes.

“Hatter?” she checked, sure she hadn’t heard that name yet, or seen it in any of the information supplied by Regina.

“Tarrant Hatter? The guy who managed, like, the entire company until one day...”

Ruby made a gun with her hand and pushed her fingers to her temple, clearly  miming suicide. Belle swallowed hard and tried to look freaked out. It didn’t come all that naturally given some of the people she had known and situations she had found herself in, but she was a professional at this so it was fine.

“I didn’t realise,” she lied easily as they continued down the street. “So, that’s why Mr Gold is here? I mean, I thought he lived in Scotland...”

“Oh, he does, or he did,” Ruby explained. “He’s from like this old Scottish family that goes back hundreds of years and he always stayed in his big mansion place and mostly let Hatter run things. Then when he, y’know, died, Mr Gold decided that instead of replacing him he should come run things himself.”

“Makes sense I suppose,” Belle nodded along as they went into the cafe and grabbed a table.

“It was cool working for Hatter. He was a little freaky and intense sometimes, but also fun,” Ruby told her new friend. “Mr Gold’s just... well, also freaky and intense, and with less fun, but I don’t think we have to worry so much about him going crazy on us.”

Belle just smiled and perused the lunch menu in front of her. Seemed if she wanted any information about the inner workings of Gold Industries she had just found the perfect source. Oh yes, she and Ruby were going to appear be very good friends indeed.

_To Be Continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

Work had never been as easy as this before. Of course, the job Belle was doing was just administration tasks and such that were so very simple to her. She was a bright girl, certainly much brighter than this supposed employment required, but then she had an ulterior motive.

It had been a while since she pulled a long con like this, but you never lost the knowledge and skill for it. Belle knew she just needed to keep her head down for a while and gather intel before she started pushing too hard. Today was the first day of her third week working at Gold Industries, and so far, so good. The boss seemed to have accepted her without any trouble, and though she wasn’t trusted with much yet, she understood it was because she was the new girl. In time, she would ensure she became Gold’s favourite, and then make herself indispensable to his life. By that time, she would be in position to execute the plan, to find enough information and make the necessary moves to bring down the man and the company he ruled over.

It wasn’t quite as simple as it sounded on paper, but Belle had confidence in her own abilities, and was spurred on by the deal she had been forced to make with Regina. The businesswoman had not contacted her yet, but that was to be expected. Too much contact between them might attract the wrong attention and lead to Belle being discovered for who and what she really was. As far as anyone in this building knew, she was Isabelle Hart, sweet and homely girl, with a good reputation, qualifications, experience, and not a hint of a criminal record. How little they really knew!

“Good Morning, Leroy,” she greeted the custodian with a smile as she stepped into the elevator beside him.

“What’s good about it?” he grumbled, shifting his cart of cleaning supplies further into the corner so more people could fit in the car.

Belle let it go. She ought not to have even tried to be nice Leroy. He was just so grumpy, there really was no talking to him most of the time. Still, Belle was determined to appear friendly and kind to anyone she met. It wasn’t a huge stretch since she wasn’t exactly a beast of a person. At the same time, she wasn’t really here to make friends, and when Gold Industries crumbled, they would probably all be out of a job because of her. It was the only downside to such cons as this one.

When a company was crooked through and through, it worked out well. The worst of them went to jail and everyone lost their money and standing. With these bigger corporations, a grifter like her couldn’t afford to think about the little cogs within the larger machine, and usually she never had to. This job was going to prove a little more personal, given how long she was going to have to spend with these people. She had met quite a few now, and a great many were perfectly decent and pleasant.

As if on queue, Dr Hopper stepped into the elevator.

“Ah, Belle. So nice to see you again,” he smiled brightly. “How are you getting along in the top office?” he asked her.

“Very well, thank you,” she replied, forcing a grin of her own. “I admit, Mr Gold can be a little overwhelming in his stern manners, but the work is nothing I can’t handle.”

“That’s good,” he nodded along with what she was saying. “I’m glad it’s working out for you. Not everybody could take the strain of working so closely with our great leader,” he smiled, at which Leroy huffed.

“Great leader,” he muttered under his breath. “That’s not what I’d call him.”

Belle took notice of that, but tried not to smirk at the comments. If an ally were needed in this place, she had a feeling she could find it in the custodian. Leroy had made it clear more than once that he had no regard at all for the boss man. Belle made a mental note - that might yet come in handy.

It wasn’t long before the elevator emptied to only Belle, and moments later she stepped out onto the forty eighth floor. For the first time since she started here, she seemed to be the first person to arrive in the top office. A check of her watch told her why - she was in at least ten minutes sooner than usual, though it wasn’t a deliberate act.

Glancing back the way she had come, Belle considered how best to use the time she seemed have gained. Gold wasn’t usually here so early anyway. Though he had an apartment above, he rarely used it. Ruby said he only stayed over when he ended up working particularly late or something; he had a house across town that he preferred most of the time. Belle knew the girls were going to be another ten or even fifteen minutes at least, so she was safe and alone until then. Her high heels clicked daintily on the polished floor as she all but threw her bag into her desk chair and went straight to Gold’s office door. One swift turn on the knob was met by a clunk of the unforgiving lock.

“Damn,” she cursed to herself, knowing she had been a fool to think the boss would be so foolish.

Not that it mattered, of course. A pin from her hair was all that was needed, and so she went to work on the lock, sure she could still be in and out before anyone caught her. Her mind ran over the office layout as she worked on the door. The filing cabinet in the corner was probably locked itself, but there was no keyhole in the desk so the drawers should be accessible. It was as good a place as any to start and she might see if she could discover any hidden compartments as well.

Shifting the pin in the keyhole, Belle was certain to hear the lock turn over at any moment when suddenly the elevator pinged behind her. She jumped up from her knees in a second, the picture of innocence before anyone came into the room.

“Morning,” she greeted her co-worker cheerily from the end of her desk.

Belle might have thought better of it if she had realised it was Astrid walking into the office. So startled was she that the armful of papers she’d been carrying shot up into the air as she jumped clean off the ground. Belle winced at the squealing sound her ‘friend’ made, and the sight of so much paperwork falling all over the floor.

“I’m so sorry, Astrid,” she told her, scrambling to help.

Honestly, she wasn’t all that sorry about it. Astrid was the clumsiest person she ever met in her life and was probably going to drop anything she was carrying at any given moment whether you startled her or not. Still, if Gold came in and saw this mess he’d just be in a foul mood. It really wasn’t worth it if it could be prevented.

“I’m such a klutz,” said Astrid, all of a panic. “I took all this home to finish collating it, and I wanted to come in early to get it filed away but then the bus was late and...”

“What the devil is going on in here?” Gold’s voice suddenly boomed.

Even the usually very aware Belle had missed the elevator bell and the sound of the doors opening this time. To be fair, with Astrid babbling in her ear and the whooshing sound of white, pink, and yellow paper copies being shuffled and collected, it was hardly surprising.

“We had a little accident, sir,” said Belle, smiling amiably at her boss. “It’ll all be sorted out in no time at all, you’ll see,” she told him.

Still the scowl on his face remained. He glared more at Astrid than at Belle then proceeded to stride through the office, trampling at least half a dozen pages underfoot. In point of fact, one stuck to the sole of his shoe and went with him all the way to his office door.

“For God’s sake!” he cursed when he realised, shifting awkwardly to remove the paper and leaning heavily on his cane.

Belle rushed to grab the paper from him, putting on her best sweet and innocent expression. She opened her mouth to give further excuses and apologies, only to have him cut in without caring what she might’ve said.

“I need you in my office, Miss Hart, just as soon as you’ve cleared up this mess,” he said with a severe look at Astrid, suggesting he found her as a person more displeasing than the fallen paperwork. “I have an early meeting and I need you take notes.”

“Doesn’t Ruby usually do that?” she asked curiously.

Though Belle was pleased enough to be given these important tasks over her counterpart, she had to admit to being surprised. Gold seemed to like her as much as he was capable of liking anyone, but Ruby was always first choice for important tasks, mostly because she’d been here longer, Belle supposed. If this was step one to usurping her fellow assistant, so be it.

“Well, Miss Lucas isn’t here today, is she?” said Gold through gritted teeth. “She left a message to say she had to take her grandmother to the hospital, and since you are the only other in the office I trust to know your left hand from your right on a daily basis,” he said overly loudly towards Astrid, and poor Kathryn who had just arrived in the midst of everything. “You will be the one to assist me with minutes for my meeting. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Belle agreed, practically bobbing a curtsey right before Gold disappeared into his office.

Blowing lose curls off her forehead, Belle turned around to see Kathryn helping Astrid with the papers she had dropped, as the poor girl sobbed into her sleeve. It wasn’t hard to see why Belle was most trusted out of the three of them, and it wouldn’t hurt her at all to be getting in closer with Gold. If she did a good job today, he should start choosing her over even Ruby before long.

Quickly, Belle rushed to her desk. She pulled out a notepad and pen, booted up her computer in an effort to check her emails and such before she had to attend this meeting. In the meantime, she checked her makeup in a travel mirror and reapplied her lipgloss. It didn’t hurt to look good in this meeting either, especially if the visitor was male. Gold’s associates taking a liking to her would be all to the good as well, she figured, since it might encourage him to use her more for his minute taking and such.

A call came up from the front desk just moments before the computer clock flipped over to nine o’clock. Gold’s appointment had arrived, one Mr Killian Jones apparently. The name was vaguely familiar but Belle couldn’t quite place it. She only hoped he didn’t turn out to be a man she had scammed before, since he would definitely blow her cover. Taking a calming breath she asked Ashley to send up Mr Gold’s guest and then buzzed the boss on the intercom to let him know Mr Jones had arrived.

“Don’t dally, girl, get yourself in here!” he snapped at her and like the dutiful assistant she was playing the part of, Belle did just that.

She had to bite her lip so as not to yell at his bad attitude towards her, but that was okay. She was a professional and she could take it, she had to to get this job done. Within five minutes, Gold was welcoming Mr Jones into his office. Belle realised that perhaps welcoming was the wrong word as she watched the icy look that passed between the two, but she said nothing. Men of business didn’t have to like each other, but they did have to make deals sometimes, whether they wanted to or not.

Sitting down on a chair at the end of Gold’s desk, she was perfectly positioned between both gentlemen. Belle wasn’t sure that she should be so bold as to introduce herself to Mr Jones but Gold made no moves to either.

“And who is this beautiful creature?” the guest asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

“This is Miss Hart,” snapped Gold. “She is here for the sole purpose of taking notes on what is said, since I know from experience that certain people I deal with tend to go back on their word after the occasion,” he smiled like a crocodile might.

Belle might’ve been afraid if she were less of a woman. Truth be known, it sent a shudder through her that she didn’t wish to wonder on. Clearing her throat, she crossed her legs and rested her notepad on her knee, waiting to begin.

The meeting was relatively boring and mostly straightforward. She took notes on the deal being struck, the particulars both men spoke of, even details on the papers they passed between them. She felt completely confident in her short hand and the like, though she was somewhat out of practice from the old fashioned task. Most people used recording devices or even cameras these days, but Gold was the traditional type, Belle knew. She wasn’t at all surprised by his methods.

“Well, it’s been a pleasure, Gold,” said Mr Jones after a full half hour of deliberations. “A real... pleasure,” he repeated, eyes passing slowly over Belle’s whole form even as he was shaking hands with Gold.

“Wish I could say the same, Jones,” the older man responded with a sneer. “I’m sure you don’t need to be escorted to the door, you know your way.”

The smirk on Killian Jones lips said it all as he tipped a wink at Belle then and strolled out of the office like it was he who owned the whole place. Gold waited until the other man was long gone, before angrily slamming his hands against the desk and sitting down again with a bump.

Belle wasn’t sure what to say. The meeting between these two had been unremarkable. They were quibbling over prices of products and delivery times, nothing out of the ordinary. It was clear they’d rather not deal with each other, but clearly it was a necessary evil. Why Jones rubbed Gold up the wrong way so easily was anybody’s guess.

“I should go type this up,” she said softly, vaguely waving her notepad towards her boss.

She headed for the door then, itching to ask what was really going on between Gold and Jones, but knowing that pushing too hard right now could ruin everything. The mood he was in, Gold might just sack her on the spot for her impudence.

“I’m sorry,” he said when she was practically out the door, stunning Belle into stopping and looking back at him. “I must apologise, Miss Hart, firstly for my outburst, but moreover for the leering lechery you were subjected to by Mr Jones. You did not come to work here expecting such things, I’m sure.”

Belle recovered quickly from her shock, letting out a breath.

“Men will be men,” she said reasonably. “I suppose I should be flattered that he finds me attractive at all. I’m not what anyone might call beautiful or sexy or anything.”

She ducked her head then, almost blushing, ever the delicate maiden. Honestly, she wasn’t sure she could guess how Gold might react to what she said. Belle certainly hadn’t expected such vehemence in his disagreement.

“Come now, dearie,” he told her, catching her attention. “A man would have to be blind not to notice the beauty of you.”

The smile that came to Belle’s lips was not as fake as it might have been. The unexpected compliment from him was nice enough. Every woman wanted to be told she was beautiful, no matter the source. The fact it was clear Gold already thought her attractive could also work to her advantage with the con. She doubted he were so easily blinded by a pretty face as so many others she had worked on in the past, but it was a good start.

“I really should get on with some work,” said Belle, smiling politely as she hurried out the door.

The grin on her lips only grew as she returned to her desk and sat down at her computer. So far, this was all going very well indeed.


	5. Chapter 5

Gold was glad it was Friday and the official working week was at an end. Getting that meeting with Killian Jones over and done with was no bad thing, and breaking in the new girl at the same time had made sense. She seemed like she knew what she was doing, a lot sharper than she appeared at first glance, but Gold had no doubt that was deliberate. Women liked to use their demure looks and shy glances to their advantage, especially with men like him. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Isabelle Hart wasn’t capable of turning heads. He genuinely did see the beauty in her and wondered how anyone could not, but he also knew how easy it was to be fooled by a pretty face. Gold wasn’t quite so naive, at least he hoped he never proved to be.

Putting his hand down under his desk, he yanked on the wire he found there. The microphone dangled from one end as the tape came away, and the cable followed back to the recording device in the desk drawer. Next, the camera was detached from it’s hiding place amongst his stationery and Gold pocketed them both. As much as he was a traditionalist in so many things, this new-fangled technology could indeed prove very useful. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Belle to take good enough notes, but she couldn’t write down everything that was said and done in a meeting that moved so quickly. Indeed, she was mostly just a welcome distraction so Jones wouldn’t realise everything he said and did was being caught on tape.

“I’ll have you yet,” he muttered as he stood up from his desk with a bit of trouble.

Sitting so long let his knee go stiff, and then trying to straighten it proved difficult. Reaching for his cane, Gold winced as he stretched out his aching muscles and tried to walk around the office a bit. Better to fall here where no-one would know than chance one of the cleaning staff seeing him in the outer office or the elevator.

When he was sure he could manage, Gold flipped off the computer monitor, gathered up his papers and turned out the light. He left his office, locking it up behind him, and headed for the elevator. Tonight he would stay over at the apartment upstairs, rather than making the journey across town. He had a lot of work today and would probably need further resources from his office yet. It made no sense to spend the whole weekend dodging about like a mad thing.

“Wow. I never thought I’d see the day when you embraced technology,” said a voice behind him, just before he stepped into the elevator.

Gold jumped so much he almost knocked himself over, but regained his balance just in time. He turned sharply to glare at the man that had startled him, and was now dangling Gold’s recording devices from his hand.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?!” he snapped. “I told you no contact, nothing, not until I called you. Are you completely insane?”

“That’s the theory,” the younger man smirked, even as he held out the items he had picked out of Gold’s pockets a second before. “I’m getting tired of waiting around. This shouldn’t be taking so long.”

“And I’m tired of explaining to you that this is my machine, in which you are but a tiny cog,” he snapped, stepping into the elevator alone. “Now, you get out of here, however you got in, I don’t care, as long as nobody sees you.”

“They never do,” the man opposite shrugged. “Just, promise me this is going to be figured out sooner rather than later?”

“I’m not making you any promises, boy,” Gold shook his head. “We had a deal, and I’ll keep my end of it, as you’ll keep yours if you know what’s good for you. Now get lost,” he growled through gritted teeth, just as the elevator doors closed.

When they opened again all of two seconds later, seemingly of their own free will, the hall way was empty.

* * *

Belle was glad it was Friday when she arrived home to her little apartment. Not that this was home exactly, just a place she was staying whilst she ran game on Gold. As it was, a job this size would mean she was staying here several weeks or even months, so she had made the place as pleasant to be in as possible.

Book shelves filled one wall of the living space, every favourite Belle could imagine lined up upon them. She hadn’t had much time to read any of them lately, but it didn’t matter, they were right there when she wanted them. There was a small TV she didn’t much care to watch, and a coffee table between one armchair and a battered couch that almost matched. That was all the furniture she cared to have in a place only she saw the inside of so far.

Dropping her keys into the bowl on the table, Belle slumped down into the armchair and let out a long breath. It wasn’t as if her admin work was hard, but keeping up the pretence of her character was a little wearing at times. She dare not appear to overly clever or confident right now. She needed to play on that sweet innocent facade she had built up at Gold Industries, and it ought not to come so hard to her. Once upon a time, Belle was this girl, dear little Belinda French who wouldn’t say boo to a goose. How different that truth was to the lie of Isabelle Hart that she had become.

Belle turned away from the reflection of herself that showed in the mirror across the room. Tissue from the box on the coffee table removed her lip gloss and started work on her eye make up too. Changing her mind on trying to get comfortable yet, she took herself off to the bathroom. Belle washed off her fake persona, returning to her living room feeling much better and able to properly relax now. She almost curled up in her chair with one of her many books when a thought occurred to her.

Grabbing up the paper, Belle skimmed the headlines then turned straight to the back. Searching the classifieds like a woman possessed, she was smiling bright as the sun when she spotted what she was looking for. She sat up enough to lean over into the coffee table, grabbing up her pen and paper. Carefully, Belle began to translate a code she knew so well with the grin on her face growing wider all the time if such a thing were even possible.

It had been months now since she’d heard from her friends, and given their previous work and new circumstances, this was simply the only safe way to stay in touch. Mary Blanchard, alias Margaret ‘Snow’ White was a fellow thief and grifter. She had been part of the crew Belle had run with for the better part of two years, using their powers for good, as it were. After so long of being career criminals, they had formed a team that helped the down-trodden by targeting the rich, powerful, and ultimately corrupt. They had parted ways when things got so serious between Mary and fellow grifter David Nolan. He was known to the world at large simply as ‘Charming’ for his ability to talk his way around any person, male or female, and seduce just about anyone he wanted to. He had vowed to give it all up for Mary, especially when she fell pregnant with his child. The team, which had been made up of five in total, disbanded just as Mary hit her second trimester, promising to stay in touch via codes only the team understood, and then only when something major happened in their lives.

A sales notice in the classifieds for a baby’s crib was the tip off, and a quick translation of the rest of the coded advertisement gave Belle all the details she needed. The baby had been born, a healthy girl, to be named Emma, and Belle could easily guess why. That child was a tribute to the one member of the law that saw the crew of Robin Hood type thieves as a force for good. Her name was Detective Swan, and she would tie up loose ends that required the law to make it work. She never asked questions, and she never researched the team for anything they’d done. That was due in no small part to the deed they had done for Emma herself, the job that made Regina hate them above all else.

Shaking her head, Belle brought her eyes back to the paper and concentrated on her translation. Mary and David were living it up in the Seychelles right now, quiet and comfortable, and out of harms way. Belle couldn’t have been more happy for them. Her only wish was to be there with them right now, though she knew it was impossible. Even if she wasn’t knee deep in this con on Gold, making actual physical contact with her old team could be suicidal at the present time. They had to keep their distance for at least a year, on that they had all agreed after their last big job, and they had to stick to it, especially now.

Somehow, Regina knew about the baby. She had shown Belle photographic evidence of a pregnant Snow and she would do harm to those Belle loved if she didn’t play by the rules. It wasn’t worth taking any risks, not when there was baby Emma to think of, as well as her dear parents. It hurt to be kept from the few people in the world she truly loved, but Belle bore it as best she could. Their separation was a small price to pay. They had saved so many people with their work, seen so many criminals far worse than themselves go to jail, reputations restored to the down-trodden, as well as copious amounts of well-deserved cash. Yes, it was worth it, Belle could not deny, even if it did hurt to be alone sometimes.

She hadn’t heard from the two other guys at all. Nobody had responded to her text, sent from one disposable cell to the others with only the co-ordinates of her new address and no other information at all. She knew Mary and David would eventually use the newspaper method instead, but Belle wondered what the others were up to, if they were carrying on the good works of the team on a smaller scale, just hiding out spending their millions, or if they had slipped back into their old habits. One of them might have, but she suspected the other knew better...

Taking a deep breath and clearing the fog of the good old days from her head, Belle set about writing out a response to Mary and David’s ad. She dare not write down anything she had in her head, only the coded translation of it. As it was she would be burning the piece of paper with their real message on it, and washing the embers down the sink for good measure. Nobody could get to know her friends location, especially not now, especially not when Regina already knew too much. Belle considered warning Mary and David about the threat of their old nemesis but soon thought better of it. So long as she herself stuck to the plan with this con on Gold, Regina would have no reason to hurt anyone else. Though Belle didn’t entirely believe that and her trust in the head of Regal Corp was practically non-existent, she had to go with her gut for now and hope for the best.

Her message complete, she moved to boot up her computer so she could send it over for placing in the paper. Of course her friends in the Seychelles were never going to get a copy of the paper it was printed in, but that was what the internet was for. There were always ways and means now the whole world was connected by technology. They would be looking out for a response, no doubt, after such exciting news. Belle’s coded note, headed up with the words ‘Wanted: Baby’s Crib’, expressed her congratulations and best wishes. She mentioned nothing at all about the con she was working now, except to say she was continuing in the teams good work, and hoped to see them soon, somehow.

Message sent, Belle sat back in her chair and sighed. The smile that had come to her lips at the news of Mary and David’s baby still hadn’t shifted and she doubted it would for a while yet. The innocent people in the world, they were the reason she did what she did these days. All those years stealing paintings from rich men, playing at being a princess or a duchess, she had loved it. Still, playing for the other side, the side of good people, it felt even better. Bringing down those that thought themselves high and mighty as they walked all over those less fortunate but with a whole lot more moral fibre, it was like a drug Belle couldn’t get enough of. She suspected when Gold went down for all his crimes against the innocents he had squashed like bugs on the windshield, it would be the biggest high Belle had felt in years. With renewed confidence and vigour she thought of facing Monday morning at the office and smiled all the more.


	6. Chapter 6

It was a simple enough process if a person knew what they were doing. Belle had come to learn the exact way to bring down men, and women, like Robert Gold. They were held high and mightily on their perches by three pillars. Make each of those supports crumble and you had your crooked business magnate on their back on the ground. The first part was easiest, to take business out from under a person. Steal the big deal they were about to make, ensure all their clients walked away. Any half-decent person of a sneaky disposition could manage such a task, though doing it without leaving a trail was the harder part.

Once the business was taken care of, possessions were next. Personal treasures perhaps, or just the money that belonged to the man rather than his company. Strip away the things a person held dear, and watch them fall deeper and deeper into ruin.

Last but not least, you took all they had left, their good name. That last shred of pride that they held onto, the strength of their good reputation. Shatter that and what was left? The answer was nothing at all, nothing but an empty shell that was good for nothing any more.

This was the same process Belle and her team of good guy grifters had been using for years, and now she must employ it again against Gold. It didn’t bother her to bring him down, she thought to herself, as she stood before the looking glass, tying up her hair. He had done some terrible things, she was certain enough of that. Certain deals he had made crippled smaller companies, destroyed other mens’ reputations, left former employees destitute. He was far from a saint, much closer to the devil from what she knew. Regina certainly painted him with the blackest of hearts, and yet he could be as charming and sweet as the next guy.

Belle finished pinning up her hair and turned to the left and right, checking her appearance. She looked well enough, and smiled as she recalled Friday afternoon when Gold had actually told her she was a beauty. It was strange really. He hadn’t needed to say such a thing, though she had fished for the compliment in a way, interested to see if he would bite. Yes, charming was a good enough word for Gold, and handsome too, if Belle were perfectly honest. Anyone who didn’t know any better was sure to think he was a perfectly nice, decent man. Of course, she did know better, and she had to remember that at all times. If she started allowing herself to see any good in this man, she would never be able to complete her task, and that she must do, for the sake of Mary, David, and their new baby, if nothing else.

Steeling herself, Belle threw on her jacket and picked up her keys and purse. Still, all the way to the office block, she couldn’t help her brain from whirring on the topic of the nice people at Gold Industries. Even if she could find a way to make herself hate the boss, it was that much more difficult to convincingly think the people she worked with were at fault. Ruby might be a little over-the-top sometimes, but she was also really sweet. The same could be said for the clumsy Astrid, and quiet, reserved Kathryn. They were just nice people, and the couple of days when Granny had come into the office, she had brought home-made muffins and was nothing but smiles.

In her trips up and down in the elevator, Belle had got to know Dr Hopper, and Leroy the janitor. A few others had spoken kindly to her, welcomed her aboard and everything. It was tough knowing that as a result of her con here, many if not all of them might end up unemployed. They didn’t deserve that, but destroying Gold’s business was the first and most major point of this whole job. Belle had no choice. If she had, she was seriously starting to wonder if she would still be here doing this.

“You okay?” asked Leroy as he joined her in the elevator half way between the ground floor and he destination. “You’re not gonna throw up, are you? ‘Cause it’s me that has to clean that up, y’know?”

Belle shook her head, hardly aware she had zoned out so badly, or apparently looked so very green about the gills. In a moment she had painted on a smile and was assuring Leroy she would not be making any extra work for him to do.

“I’m just... thoughtful today,” she smiled sweetly.

“Thinking ‘why am I still working for this asshole?’ maybe?” he asked her with a smirk he couldn’t help, especially when he watched her blush a pretty pink.

“He’s really not so bad, you know,” she told him, as any good and loyal assistant would when speaking of the boss. “He’s really been very decent with me so far.”

It was strange how she didn’t have to lie about that, she realised. Belle really had expected Gold to be a complete ogre to work for, and yet so far he hadn’t yelled or lost his temper, had made no unreasonable demands of her or anyone that she had seen. The deals she knew of were legitimate enough and the only meeting that might have been considered dodgy was on Friday when Killian Jones came calling. That man was not to be trusted any more than Gold was, and Belle was frankly surprised by the animosity between them. They ought to be bososm friends, by all accounts. There was a tale to be told there, and perhaps employing her best skills could pry lose the whole story from Gold.

“Hey, sister!” Leroy yelled, waving a hand in front of her face. “You think any harder, you’ll hurt yourself,” he told her seriously.

“I’m fine” Belle assured her, just barely managing a smile as she looked towards the elevator doors that had long since opened on the top floor “Really, I am, but thank you Leroy, for being so concerned.”

“Concerned?” he echoed, wide eyed as she stepped out into her office. “No way,” he grumbled.

Of course, there was no getting away from the fact he had stayed in the elevator all the way up here just to make sure she was okay and they both knew it. Belle was smiling genuinely at that thought as she went over to her desk and sat down. Ruby was already there, though not looking as upbeat as she usually did. That was quickly explained as she spoke of her trip to the hospital on Friday with her grandmother. Things were not looking good for the old lady and Ruby was evidentially upset. Belle didn’t want to feel so sorry for her, but it was hard not to. She had lost her mother as a child and knew all too well the pain of seeing someone you loved suffer and eventually depart. It was almost a relief when their conversation was cut short by Gold’s arrival. He had a face like thunder and snapped at the two of them to stop gossiping immediately before he docked their wages. Apparently they were not paid ‘to share idle tittle-tattle’ as he put it.

Belle bit her lip and made herself look appropriately shame-faced at being caught. Turning to her computer she began going through emails, confirming appointments, and chasing up figures from other departments. It was all pretty menial and boring but she knew how to do it, and she needed to work hard if she wanted to get on Gold’s good side. It seemed nasty to even think it, but if Ruby was upset and distracted, she was bound to get a little sloppy in her work, maybe even need to take more days off. That could easily work to Belle’s advantage if she played the situation right. Putting the knife in to Gold about Ruby wasn’t a pleasant idea, but it would help her get closer to the boss herself. That was all to the good if she wanted more opportunities to question him, to search his office, that kind of thing. So far, searching filing cabinets and computer files really hadn’t got her very far. Gold was way too good at covering his tracks, it was almost impossible to find any evidence she could use against him legally or even otherwise. Belle needed to know the deals Gold was going to make long enough before he made them to be able to take them out from underneath him. That was easier said than done, despite her position here. Ruby had the best access and that needed taking from her. Belle had to use the other young woman’s weaknesses against her, how ever nasty it seemed. This wasn’t about making friends, even though that was what Belle knew she was doing here in a way. She had a job to do, a duty to her real friends, a deal to uphold with Regina for everyone else’s sake.

“Belle?” her name spoken in Astrid’s nervous tone brought her out of deep thought with a bump.

Belle spun around on her chair and knocked the cup of coffee in Astrid’s hand all over the floor, as well as down her own skirt. She bit her lip so as not to curse as she wanted to. Such a thing was not in her characters nature, but she did squeal some as the heat of the liquid seeped through to her skin. Astrid started flapping, rushing for paper towels as Ruby scrambled to her feet and joined in with the drama. All this fuss stirred Gold from his office, looking even more mad than when he’d gone in there if such a thing were possible. Belle could’ve cried all in all, between the burns she was sure she was currently developing and the fact her excellent plan for the day was getting blown to all hell. She needed Gold to think of her as able and perfect for making his favourite assistant, trusting with secrets and the like. Now she looked like a klutz, even if she could make it more Astrid’s fault than hers that she was currently stood in the centre aisle of the office, dripping with coffee, tears forming in her eyes.

“What the hell is going on out here?!” he asked, almost loud enough to make the windows rattle.

“Just a small accident, Mr. Gold,” said Ruby as she shoved a wad of tissue into Belle’s hand, and Astrid scrabbled on the ground amongst broken china shards.

Surveying the scene with a quick eye, Gold’s anger dissipated a little. Belle almost thought he looked at her with concern in the next moment, though she couldn’t think why he would. She wasn’t so very badly hurt, just a little burnt and... As she looked down Belle realised she could see blood. That couldn’t be right, it had to be coffee, that was all, and yet now that she thought about it, her lower leg did hurt a lot more than it should for a mild scald.

“Upstairs,” he ordered her with his usual authority, before softening just a minute amount. “Please, Miss Hart, do as I ask and go upstairs to my apartment. Ruby, call Nurse Ghorm and tell her we require her assistance.”

“It’s really nothing” Belle said bravely. “Just a small cut. It must have been a piece of china that flew up...”

She stopped half way through her speech when she realised what he was actually proposing. Going up to his apartment, it was a golden opportunity that ought not to be wasted just because she objected to being treated like a weakling. Well, if that’s what he thought she was, may as well play it to her advantage, she thought.

“I, er...” she made herself look down at the blood dripping to her ankle, and swallowed hard.

“Damn it!” Gold exclaimed, seeing what was coming before it actually happened.

It wasn’t the world’s most heroic save, given the fact he had only one good leg. Still, it was fairly impressive the way he dropped his cane and dived forward to catch Belle as she faked a faint, albeit he had to lean back on the furniture to keep them both off the floor. Belle almost felt bad for crushing the guy against a desk, but at the same time, she was a little impressed by his reactions, and by the muscles she was feeling through his well tailored suit - that was a surprise. Even so, she knew he couldn’t manage to pick her up and carry her, that would be too much, and so she let her eyelids flutter, muttering apologies as she tried to right herself.

“I’m so sorry, I... I don’t know what happened,” she said absently, a hand to her forehead.

“Never mind that,” Gold told her, an arm still around her waist. “Kathryn, the other side!” he ordered her and she dutifully came running. “Lean on us, dearie,” he advised Belle then as the three of them headed for the elevator.

Inside, Gold used a key from his chain to open a hatch above the usual buttons for the first forty eight floors, revealing one more that clearly took the car up to his apartment. Belle tried not to smile, just concentrated on seeming flustered and hurt as she leaned her weight towards Kathryn still. She really was getting the full access tour here. Had Belle realised that playing the damsel card worked so well, she might’ve tried it a whole lot sooner!

The elevator doors opened at the top floor in no time, and Kathryn helped Belle to the nearest chair. The blood from her calf looked worse than it was but she made a big deal of not looking too obviously. The sight of even a small wound was enough to make a girl like Isabelle Hart pass out apparently, and Belle had to keep up the facade. It was pretty nasty to see a bit of china jammed into the cut on her leg, but she’d had far worse in days gone by.

Kathryn was gone just as soon as Gold dismissed her and that left Belle alone with the man himself. That was a strange feeling since it had never happened before, save for a brief moment in his office after Killian Jones had left. That was the very moment he chose to smile and simper, and remark on her beauty. Now Belle bristled at that thought which had given her such a warm glow before. Perhaps Gold had got her up here for more nefarious reasons than she first thought. His being nice was clearly a shock to the others, and though Ruby had said he wasn’t some dirty old man, maybe she was wrong. Maybe Ruby just wasn’t his type or something. Belle tried not to squirm in her seat as Gold stumbled a little coming over to take a seat nearby. He had left his cane behind and was feeling the effects of it. Perhaps she wasn’t in so very much danger after all.

“Where is that stupid woman?” he muttered, checking the clock on the mantle. “It’s just a few floors in the elevator. How long can it take?”

“I feel so silly,” Belle shook her head carefully. “Such a foolish accident and then to faint on you at the sight of a little blood...”

“Hardly your fault,” he assured her. “That stupid girl, Astrid! I don’t know why I still employ her, she’s an accident waiting to happen. Worse, she’s an accident that has happened, an accident of birth!”

Belle was a little taken aback by the outburst. It was true enough that Astrid was one of the clumsiest people she had ever met, but Gold was certainly getting very worked up over such a minor injury on her part. She wondered if there was more to this than a simple spilt drink and broken cup.

“I’m not the type of person that... I mean, if you’re worried I’m going to sue your company for this, I would never,” she told him, with such vehemence as to almost made Gold smile.

“I would never think such a thing of such a charming young lady as yourself, Miss Hart,” he smirked more than smiled, she noticed, and not in an altogether nice way.

Belle frowned a little when he wasn’t looking. There were times, only a handful of moments, but still, she wondered if he knew more than he was saying. She wondered if Gold knew from the beginning who she was and why she was here. It wasn’t impossible, he was an intelligent man. All she was fairly certain of was that she wasn’t being double-crossed in the worst way - Regina working with Gold against her would be fruitless. That didn’t mean he wasn’t smart enough to ralise what she and the Regal Corp boss were up to. Belle felt genuinely sick by the time Nurse Ghorm arrived.

“I shall leave you ladies to it,” said Gold, stumbling back towards the elevator, trying not to look like he was struggling.

Belle made sure to thank him for all his kindness and promised she would be back down in the office just as soon as she was patched up. Still her mind continued to whirl with unpleasant possibilities. Was she busted on this con before she had hardly even begun?

_To Be Continued..._


	7. Chapter 7

Belle let out a long sigh when she reached home that night. It’d been a long and trying day which had not gone at all how she planned it. So much for ingratiating herself with the boss and making a concerted effort in uncovering his dodgy business affairs. Though she had achieved a free pass into Gold’s private apartment, she had been accompanied at all times, either by Gold himself or Nurse Ghorm, the company’s medical expert. She was never permitted a chance to snoop and wondered if she would ever be lucky enough to get back into this apartment again. For this minor victory, that barely learnt its title, she had ruined a skirt and suffered a wound, however minor, on her leg. No, it had not been the best day.

It seemed it was certainly not going to improve either. There was a package on her coffee table when she came in, though it had not been there when she went out, and no evidence existed as to how anyone had got into her home. She had little in the way of security here, but then Belle never considered she needed it. She kept nothing of any real value in Isabelle Hart’s make-believe home, and besides, she knew best of anyone that a determined person could find a way in past any type of security system if they really wanted to.

Sitting down in the armchair, she looked down at the package with a suspicious eye. The kind of person she was, the team she used to run with, Belle had to be careful about what she opened without thinking. It was only when she saw the label on the top bearing the black crown symbol that she breathed.

“Regina,” she muttered as she picked up the package and tore into it.

Inside was a cell phone, the kind that was untraceable, even by the best hackers or computer experts. There were no numbers loaded into the contacts folder, and no note asking her to call anybody. No instructions, nothing, just the phone. Placing it back on the table next to the torn up packaging, Belle moved towards the bathroom. She had her make up off quickly and slipped out of her clothes, deciding the skirt was going to require dry cleaning if it was ever going to be right again.

She was soon dressed and contemplating food when she heard the phone ring. It was not the sound of her own landline or the cell her character owned, so that only left one option. Sure enough, the untraceable cell sent to her by Regina was skittering across the table, as it buzzed and vibrated. Taking a deep breath, Belle picked it up and accepted the call from an ‘unknown number’.

“Speak,” she said sharply, wincing at the laughter soon filling her ear.

“All business,” said Regina darkly. “A woman after my own heart, but then of course, all work and no play makes for a very dull girl, Miss Hart.”

“What do you want?” Belle snapped, knowing she shouldn’t but unable to help it after the day she’d had.

“I want to know how long you’re going to take in moving our little plan along?” the head of Regal Corp replied, her tone suddenly much more severe. “It’s been almost three weeks and so far I see no difference being made to Gold Industries affairs. Their stock is rising, I’ve no bad reports about their business dealings. What exactly are you doing in there, Miss Hart?”

“Making coffee, filing papers, the usual for a personal assistant to the boss,” she explained, being deliberately impertinent. “I can’t just walk in and get my hands on every secret Gold has, that’s not the way this kind of thing works.”

“Well, it had better start working, Miss Hart, because the fuse on my temper is only so long,” Regina told her. “If the boss won’t brag to his secretary or trust her with more than minute-taking and letter writing, maybe its time to up the ante a little,” she said, and though Belle could not see her she knew she was smiling that particularly evil smile of hers. “Now, I know that for all he can be, Mr Gold is not exactly a rogue with women. He’s rarely seen out on the town as it were, and there has been no serious love interest in his life since his poor wife died many years ago,” she explained, pointlessly really since Belle already had all this information from the files Regina gave her. “Perhaps we can kill more birds with one stone than we thought. Perhaps you can work on taking his business by way of pleasure.”

Belle swallowed hard at that suggestion. She knew very well what Regina was suggesting. Getting to know Gold personally would definitely get her closer to his secrets, not just those wrapped up in his business operations, but potentially those linked to his private life as well. She didn’t have to start with taking the company down and then destroy the man, she could go for the whole package in one fell swoop if she could get into the heart of a man like Gold.

“We’re not talking about just a seduction here,” she told Regina, not a question but a statement of fact. “A man doesn’t give everything to a woman just because she’ll sleep with him, he... he’d have to love me.”

“Exactly,” said Regina slowly. “If I’d’ve wanted Gold seduced, I’d’ve hired a hundred dollar hooker from the nearest street corner,” she explained. “I hired you, because you’re better than that, Miss Hart. You know how to change the way a person feels. How to manipulate a man; body, heart, and soul.”

She was right and Belle knew it. She could bring men to their knees as easily as she could breathe in and out, and had done so in the past. Along with her team, she had duped men and women alike out of millions by turning on the charm, playing a part, making them think they were getting just exactly what they wanted, then pulling the rug out from under their feet at the last. She could do it with Gold, not as easily as with some of the more gullible marks she’d encountered, but it wasn’t impossible. He already thought she was beautiful...

“Fine,” she nodded once, even though she could not be seen. “I can do what you want, but you’ll still have to give me time. If you want him so in love that he’ll tell me anything and everything, that kind of thing can’t happen overnight.”

“Oh, I think you under-estimate yourself, Miss Hart,” Regina chuckled in such a way as to make Belle shudder in disgust. “I’ll be in touch again in due course. Don’t worry about the phone, I’ll never call this number again. Good luck, Miss Hart.”

There was a click and she was gone. In a moment of fury, Belle pitched the handset against the opposite wall where it cracked and fell the floor in a shower of cheap plastic shards.

* * *

Even in a situation that ought to be the most relaxing for her, Belle could not find peace. It was strange, but after her call from Regina she felt the need for a bath just to get the impression of the conversation off her skin. The hot water made her leg sting at first but she ignored it after a few minutes, and leaned back in the tub with a favourite book in her hands. Unfortunately, focusing her eyes on the words proved troublesome, despite the fact she was awake and alert enough for the task. Her mind kept wandering to Gold and what she must yet do.

Seducing him would be easy enough. Lesser men had told her everything she ever wanted to know for the sake of a few heated kisses and a well-practiced slow dance. Gold was older than some and wiser than most. He wouldn’t fall for a girl’s simple tricks, it was going to take a woman of substance and intelligence to really hook him. Dragging him into her bed would have taken some work, especially since Belle rarely allowed herself to go that far just for the sake of a job - she never really needed to. What Regina wanted, it meant having Gold genuinely fall in love with her, to the point where anything and everything he did revolved around her. Belle was fairly confident she could manage such a task, but she couldn’t allow herself for a moment to believe it would be all that easy. All her skills would be required to turn this innocent girlish Isabelle Hart into a real woman that Gold would want to love.

Dumping her book to one side, the water splashed as Belle reached for the file that was just within reach. Flipping the pages, she started re-reading facts she had already learnt so well, hoping to hone in on the kind of personal things that might help her get into Gold’s good books, help her make the kind of connections with him that he didn’t have with anyone else.

There had been a wife and a child, the information said. The wife was dead, but there was no further details on where the son had gone, though from the year of birth he would be grown by now, over twenty in fact. Belle was reminded again how much older than her Gold really was and almost laughed. It was ridiculous really, he was very close in age to her father, and yet the photographs made a liar of the numbers. He didn’t look that old, but then it was easy to look good when you had money to help you out, Belle knew that. Yes, Gold was a handsome man, with manners and an ability to be perfectly nice and reasonable. It wasn’t much to work with, but then it was only in her attempts to be getting closer to him that Belle would really learn all she needed to know about this man. As she worked on him, tried out certain angles, she would figure out what worked and what didn’t. It would be fine, Belle told herself, shifting in the water that was now starting to feel cold. Time to get out of the tub, she said to herself, tossing the paperwork about Gold aside.

A towel around her body and another wrapped around her head, Belle wandered through to the bedroom and opened up both closet doors. She had obtained all kinds of clothes before this con began, but had stuck decidedly to one end of the rail since she put the character of Isabelle Hart into practice. She was prim and proper, every part the polite and shy young lady. If she was going to get a little more attention out of the boss, she was going to have to give him a bit more to look at, she supposed. At the same time, there was no percentage in coming off like a tart. Those type of girls were a dime a dozen, and men didn’t fall in love with them, just used them for sport.

It was going to take some thinking about, Belle decided, as she let her eyes and fingers wander up and down the rail of clothes. She had all night to figure it out, and tomorrow she would put the next part of her plan into action.

A laugh escaped at that particular thought. Her plan. No, it was never that. Belle was just a puppet for Regina and today’s call and shift in strategy reminded her too much of that very fact. Still, it was all in a good cause. Maybe after she got done with Gold, Belle would know enough about Regina to turn the tables and see her brought down too. She might need a little help with that, and with Mary and David out of the game, that didn’t leave many places to turn. The other two guys hadn’t been in touch since the team’s last split...

Shaking her head from thoughts of the past, Belle set about getting herself dried off and fixing her hair. The present was where her mind needed to be right now, on the plan that had to be put into practice come Tuesday morning, and that was much closer than she had realised. The clock said she ought to be getting to bed by now if she was going to look half decent come first light. Looking up into the mirror, all damp hair and glowing skin, Belle found a smile.

“Good morning, sir,” she tried. “Good morning, Mr Gold. Isn’t it a lovely day?”

It was way too over the top and she laughed at herself the very next moment, covering her face with her hands. It reminded her all too much of being a teenager and contemplating how best to get the attention of a boy in school she liked. Essentially, it was the same process, albeit everyone involved was older and wiser. She was still trying to get on a man’s good side, get him to ask her out on a date, share his secrets, that kind of thing. In its basest form, it was exactly the same situation when she thought about it.

Belle knew all the buttons to push with men, skills well learnt from the age of barely fourteen. She could do this, of course she could, though she still didn’t really want to if she were honest. Damn Regina for taking her independence from her. This job might even have been fun if she was doing it for herself, for her team, for a good cause like so many times before. Knowing all her efforts were for that evil cow took the shine off the whole thing.

“Nobody decides my fate but me,” she said to her reflection, a look of determination coming over her face. “Nobody,” she repeated, smiling at last.

Oh yes, Belle had a new plan, but it wasn’t entirely the one Regina had given her. Get Gold on her side, find out all she could to bring him down, that was a solid way forward. Of course, it didn’t follow that she had to tell Regina all she learnt, or any of it in fact. Maybe there was still a chance she could do just exactly what the businesswomen had said on the phone, and kill more birds with a single stone than expected, take down Gold and Regina both. It was a hell of an undertaking for a lone woman, but there were resources Belle could call upon if she really needed to. Besides, long odds never stopped her trying before. No reason to let that change now.

_To Be Continued..._


	8. Chapter 8

Belle took a deep breath before she stepped out of the elevator Tuesday morning. It was almost nine thirty, over half an hour later than she usually started, but that was all very much a part of the plan. At first light she had called the offices and left a message to say she was very sorry but she would be a little late in this morning, as she had to go to see the doctor. She had concerns about the burn and graze she suffered the day before and wouldn’t feel happy until she ensured she was okay. Gold might try to be mad about that, Belle was sure, but he would soon change his tune when he came face to face with her this morning.

The truth was, there was no doctor’s appointment, and never would need to be for such minor injuries. Belle just wanted an excuse to be late arriving this morning. She planned to make an impact, and for that she required an audience, all the girls in the office before her, plus Gold as well. With her head held high and a smile on her lips, she walked down the centre aisle towards her seat. Ruby looked up, even if Astrid and Kathryn were too busy concentrating on their work. Her eyes widened ever so slightly, and Belle wasn’t surprised. The skirt she was wearing today barely came to her knees and was a light material that was bound to be jostled by a passing breeze. It was a little more daring than Belle had ever appeared in the office before, and the shirt that revealed itself when she removed her jacket was certainly meant for a woman with assets to show off too.

“Hey, Belle” Ruby smiled awkwardly. “Um, were you really at a doctor’s appointment this morning?” she checked.

Belle didn’t wonder at her friend’s strange manner. She probably wondered if she’d been shopping instead, or maybe she’d just gone crazy. It didn’t matter so much. It would be Gold’s reaction that was worth the whole charade.

“Of course,” she smiled politely at Ruby. “I know I’m silly for being so worried about a little cut and a mild burn, but you hear such awful things about infections and... and I couldn’t rest until a doctor took a look for me,” she explained, all innocence and earnest worry.

Ruby nodded along in vague understanding, and then turned back to her desk as the phone rang. Belle allowed herself a breath and then looked to her computer. There was an email with the subject line in capital letters from Gold, telling her he wished to see her the moment she arrived. Whether it was to yell at her or ask after her health really didn’t matter to Belle. She had an invitation into his office, a private moment, and with her new outfit on she was more than confident she could make the most of everything today threw at her. Still, just for the fun of it, she didn’t immediately rise from her desk and run into his office, she made a point of reading her other emails first and rearranging papers before she finally pretended to realise where she really should be.

“You okay?” asked Ruby when she jumped up so suddenly.

“Mr Gold wants to see me,” she said, fingers lacing and unlacing in front of her in some kind of nervous habit, which was of course entirely faked. “I hope he’s not too angry about my being late. I did call as early as I could about my appointment.”

“It’ll be fine,” said Ruby, though her looks were not as convincing.

Gold hadn’t seemed all that amused when she needed a day off to take her grandma to the hospital, and he was a stickler for punctuality and the like. Still, maybe it’d be better for Belle if he was angry. She might just be able to play that to her advantage. Anger was passion, in a different way to what she needed perhaps, but easily shifted. Plus, alternating the poor sweet innocent girl act with the sexy confident young woman, that drove most men wild. She doubted Gold was so very different to other men when you got right down to the base instincts of the human male.

Taking a deep breath as if she were about to go to war, Belle knocked on the door with purpose and stepped in just as soon as Gold called for her to do so. He didn’t even look up from his paperwork as she came into the room, closing the door behind her like a dutiful assistant would. With her hands clasped behind her back she walked up to his desk and waited for him to realise she was standing there.

“Miss Hart, why don’t you...” he began, until suddenly his eyes came up from his desk.

Gold was a little startled to realise his eye line featured the well-formed bosom of his newest P.A. He forced his gaze up to meet her own and tried not to smile. This was definitely new, but mentioning such a thing would just be inviting trouble. Gold knew much better than that.

“Would you please sit down, Miss Hart?” he instructed her, and she dutifully planted herself in the chair.

That didn’t really help, Gold realised, as Belle crossed her legs and her already short skirt rode up an inch or two. Absently, he licked his lips and dropped his pen down on the desk. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t noticed that Isabelle Hart was an attractive young woman. He would have to be blind and stupid, as he had in fact told her, to not notice she was quite beautiful. Of course, she was also half his age and as yet, he wasn’t entirely sure she was trustworthy.

“Now, whilst I appreciate that you called early this morning to warn us of your tardiness, I would prefer that you try, whenever possible, to keep such visits to the doctor, dentist, or any other type of profession outside of your work hours, unless it is a complete emergency,” he advised her, leaning back in his seat with his hands folded in his lap.

“Yes, sir,” she nodded dutifully. “It won’t happen again. I can even work through my lunch break to make up the time if it would help,” she offered, causing him to smile.

“That won’t be necessary, at least not on this occasion,” he assured her.

She returned the expression he wore and deliberately leaned over the desk towards him a little more.

“You really are very kind, Mr Gold,” she told him sweetly. “I confess, when I first came here... well, there are always rumours and stories. I try not to listen, but I will admit, I was a little afraid of you in the beginning,” she said, looking up through her lashes at Gold.

His expression was caught between amusement and intrigue then. Belle knew what she was doing to him. Men liked to think themselves powerful, and tended to get off on knowing a woman was just a little bit wary of them, especially guys like Gold, she suspected. He played nice, but he had a temper. Chances were good the poor little damsel quaking in her boots would get his attention. Later when she turned on a dime and showed she could also be strong and even wild when the need arose, it ought to be the undoing of any man.

“Afraid? Of me?” he smirked wickedly. “Come now, Miss Hart, what on Earth is there to be afraid of?” he asked, arms stretched wide as if presenting himself for her analysis.

“Oh, I know better now, of course,” she rolled her eyes. “I mean, you get angry sometimes, but only when people disappoint you. I wouldn’t ever want to do that. I hope I’m proving to you how hard I can work, how much I want to do well for the company, and for you,” she smiled across at him.

Gold wasn’t stupid, he knew seduction techniques as well as the next man. Still, Isabelle Hart was pretty convincing. He wondered if she really knew exactly what she was doing or if her act was as innocent as she was trying to make it seem. She was somewhat of an enigma to him, and it certainly wasn’t boring trying to figure her out.

“You’re doing a perfectly good job so far, Miss Hart,” he nodded once. “Now, run along, get some work done. What else do I pay you for?”

“Yes, sir,” she got up from her seat, practically curtseying as she turned towards the door.

She stopped short of leaving with a thought in her head that she couldn’t resist. Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw that Gold had gone straight back to his paperwork, just assuming she would leave. It was a testament to his willpower that he hadn’t watched her walk away, especially given the way she was dressed.

“Um, Mr Gold?” she called back to him, smiling when he looked up at her with surprise that she was still even in the room. “Why do you call me Miss Hart when all the other girls are called by their given names?” she asked in earnest.

Honestly, Belle really did want to know the answer. Besides, getting him to use her first name was a step in the right direction to their getting closer. It was a win-win as far as she could tell.

“Well, I’ve known the rest of your team much longer than I have known you,” he explained, actually having to think about his answer as he gave it, it seemed. “If you would prefer Isabelle?” he offered.

“Actually, only my parents really call me that,” she told him. “Everyone else just calls me Belle, so if you wanted to...”

“As you wish, Belle,” he replied, with another single nod. “But in the meantime, you really must get back to your desk, dearie, or nothing is going to get done by either one of us.”

“Yes, Mr Gold,” she said dutifully before finally leaving the office.

Belle forced the smile off her face as she returned to her desk and got to work. She could feel Ruby and Kathryn both looking her way but refused to turn around. Right now she didn’t want to discuss what just happened in Gold’s office, since she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to tell them. Giving them any hints that she was trying to usurp Ruby or get closer to Gold in a decidedly non-business way would not help her. Having the team like her mattered right now, and she had to maintain these friendships she had started to make, at least for the length of the con against Gold, if not Regina as well. Certainly her new plan seemed to be going well so far, she thought, and honestly, she wasn’t wrong.

Alone in his office, Gold gave up on pretending to concentrate on any work the moment Belle was gone from his sight. She was quite the puzzle. Dressed as she was today, she certainly had his attention, though honestly, she had been quite adept at claiming it even before. The girl was bright as a button, sharp as a tack, and certainly as pleasing to look at as anyone in the building, perhaps more so. She had an air about her, something akin to respectability, even her revealing clothes. Ruby never managed such a feat and always looked suitable for a street corner to Gold’s mind, but she was a good worker, and her outfits that he would often call slutty in his own mind did suitably distract many a man he dragged in for a meeting, allowing him the upper hand that much more easily, so he never complained.

Still, Belle was different. She could get a man’s attention away from work easily enough with her shy smiles and fluttering eyelashes. Add to that how she looked in a shorter skirt and plunging neckline, and Gold could imagine she would genuinely bowl a lesser man over. Of course, his own head was not so easily turned, whether that was what she intended. Gold told himself that, but in all honesty, he had just forgotten entirely what he’d been doing before Belle walked in. That was a curious problem that he didn’t much like having, and yet couldn’t find a way to genuinely dislike.

* * *

“Belle?” Ruby caught her attention at last by tapping her friend on the shoulder. “Are you ready?”

“Ready?” she checked, looking up at her team-mate.

“For lunch?” prompted Ruby, wondering at the blank expression Belle wore. “It’s already five after one. I couldn’t get you out of this spread-sheet related trance!”

Belle laughed at that, a cover for the fact she had to think what to say next. She knew very well that it was lunchtime, but Gold had gone out at noon, saying he would only be an hour. She really didn’t want to leave right now, she wanted to be here when he got back, and preferably without Ruby. Of course her first thought was to tell her friend she had to work through her lunch break because of being late this morning, but she wondered if that would really work. Ruby might have over-heard what was said in Gold’s office this morning, or may know he wouldn’t have given her such a punishment. It wasn’t worth the risk of that particular lie.

“Oh, er... you go,” she said eventually. “I’m going to stay here today.”

“Really? Why?” asked Ruby in real confusion.

“I just, I have all these figures to finish inputting, and I was so late this morning,” Belle shook her head sadly. “Mr Gold was so nice about it all, but I just feel like I should stay.”

Ruby wasn’t convinced or impressed, but after a few moments consideration she decided to go to the deli without Belle, promising to bring her back a sandwich.

“You have to eat,” she reasoned, and Belle didn’t bother to argue with her, especially since she made an excellent point.

Going back to her computer, Belle continued to hammer away on the keyboard, finishing out the spread sheet that had held her attention before. The truth was, it took very little concentration to copy numbers into boxes. Her eyes were mostly on the compact mirror she’d set on the desk, aimed in such a way that she would see Gold entering the office again without ever having to turn around. She wanted to see his expression, everything, before he got too close if this was all going to work. If he came back angry, she had to play the situation differently to if he was in a happier mood.

It was around ten minutes later she heard a vague ‘ding’ and was sure the elevator had brought Gold back. Training her eyes on the mirror, she watched the door open, and her boss walk in. He didn’t look all that happy, but then he hardy he ever did, Belle observed, apart from when they were alone together and she made him genuinely smile. He wasn’t in a foul mood anyway, she could tell that much, and smiled as she rose from her desk. Just as he was level with her she took a single step and then stumbled back against her own desk, grabbing at her calf where it had been injured in such a minor way the day before.

“Damnit!” she cursed, quite out of character for the girl she was portraying, deliberately glancing up to catch Gold’s eye when he glanced her way. “Oh, I’m sorry, Mr Gold. I’m not usually so rude, or so clumsy,” she explained, even as she hopped up to sit on the edge of her desk.

“You are in pain, Miss Ha... Belle?” he amended quickly.

“It’s really nothing,” she assured him, crossing one leg over the other and running her fingers over the large sticking plaster that covered her small cut and burn. “I think sitting so long has just allowed it to tighten up on me. I’ll be fine in just a minute, I promise.”

Gold had a hard time looking at her face right now, and she knew it, shifting herself back on the desk a little more so her skirt rode up another inch. Belle’s hand ran up the length of her hurt leg as she stretched it out carefully. Keeping the smile off her face was the hardest part, especially when she considered what the hardest part probably was for Gold.

“Get down off the desk, Belle,” he told her sharply. “We don’t want any visitors thinking they’ve stumbled into a free show.”

He turned and stormed into his office then, the door slamming shut behind him. Belle shifted back into her chair and forced down the giggle that rose in her throat. So far, so good.

_To Be Continued..._


	9. Chapter 9

It was finally Friday again. Belle had spent the week dressed in her more alluring work clothes, playing up to Gold any chance she got in her own subtle way. She had him on the ropes as they said in boxing, catching his attention more often than she ever had before, and being called upon just that bit more often than Ruby so far. Belle tried not to smile about it and never made mention to Ruby. Honestly, she considered, the person she had replaced was probably as indispensible as she was proving herself to be. Ruby had said she and Belle were to be the A Team to Kathryn and Astrid’s B Team after all, so she could hardly balk at her fellow assistant being kept as busy as she was herself.

Belle was busy building ground work, that was what all this was about. As she and the dreaded Regina had discussed, seducing a man was no good on its own, not for this kind of thing. Gold had to fall in love for it to be a worthwhile con. Sex was too easy and bedfellows too simple to cast aside. If Belle allowed herself to become the cliched secretary, taken roughly over the desk when the boss was bored, she would most likely find herself treated worse in working hours, and soon dismissed before she caused any trouble. Besides, she didn’t think Gold was that type. If all he was after was a bit of rough and tumble, that would be what Ruby was for him, Belle was certain. Yet, her fellow P.A. had assured her none of that went on here.

Physical connections were far too simple and base. A truly great grifter worked on the emotional connections, tapped into deeper wants and fears, using those to her advantage. Belle planned on tonight being the beginnings of a new connection between her and Gold. She just had to wait out the rest of the girls in the office.

Ruby was out the door on the dot of five, always wanting to escape just as soon as she could on a Friday. She offered Belle the chance to go out dancing, but her friend politely declined, saying she wasn’t feeling up to it. Belle had been feigning some kind of non-descript illness all day, and was sure everyone she spoke to had noticed. Archie had asked her in the elevator this morning what was wrong, at which she sighed and said it was nothing really. It had been the same with Ashley at the front desk, and Peter, the guy from the deli who Ruby had such a crush on. Gold had said nothing about her odd mood, but she was pretty sure he had noticed. If he hadn’t before, he certainly would very soon.

Kathryn was next to leave, yawning all the way, but Astrid just kept on saying ‘five more minutes’ and ‘I just want to finish this’. It was twenty after five and still she was dithering. Belle was getting frustrated now.

“Astrid?” she said carefully as she walked down to her team-mate’s desk. “Is there anything I can help with?”

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” she laughed lightly. “Honestly, I can do it, I just... oh!” she gasped, putting both hands over her face as the computer screen froze. “No, no, no!”

Belle peered over Astrid’s shoulder and realised what had happened. So much for being another five minutes, it was likely they’d all be here another half an hour if she let the girl start over again.

“Here,” she said, taking the papers from Astrid’s shaking hands. “I’ll take these and figure all this out. It won’t take me very long. You should go home and get some sleep. You look exhausted,” she told her kindly.

“Really?” she all but squeaked, feeling silly. “Are you sure, because..?”

“I’m positive,” Belle smiled. “Really, you should go.”

All the urging finally paid off, and after about four more thank yous, Astrid finally left. Belle sighed and headed back to her own desk, casting an eye at Gold’s door. He was still in there, and she intended to stay until he came out, however long that took. She supposed it never occurred to him to come check his staff had left, sure as he was that they all wanted to escape to their weekend just as soon as possible. Belle was going to prove him very wrong today, with her own special agenda.

Feeling that she at least ought to keep her promise to Astrid whilst she was here, Belle tapped through folders on her computer and re-collated the paperwork she had taken from her colleague. She had the whole mess sorted out in a matter of fifteen minutes and smiled as she hit save. To think Astrid had struggled so much, it was a wonder the woman kept her job at all. Belle was sure she was in fact smarter than she seemed, she just gave into worry and panic far too easily. That was the downfall of so many, including a great many marks Belle had gone after. That led her mind full circle back to Gold and she spared his office door another glance. Still no movement.

Belle huffed as she got up and went over to Astrid’s desk to put back the paperwork she had sorted for her and then set about rebooting the computer, getting it back into shape before shutting it down for the night; all sorted out.

Belle hated the waiting part of any job. She was impatient by nature, just wanted to get on with things. Sure, long cons worked well sometimes and she was quite capable of running that kind of game on a mark, but even in those she felt she was doing something. This was literally sitting and twiddling her thumbs until that blasted door opened. Belle was ready to scream with frustration when she heard a noise in the silence. Gold was moving, she could hear the rhythm of his footsteps and cane against the floor.

In the two minutes it took for him to tidy his things away and reach the door, Belle had turned back into her desk, her face in her hands as she cried. As Gold opened the door and stepped out, he was surprised to find anyone still in the large outer office. Finding Belle in a such a state of upset was the very last thing he expected.

“What are you still doing here?” he asked, perhaps not as kindly as one should when a young woman was in distress, but then Gold was hardly used to facing such circumstances.

Belle looked up as if startled, wiping her cheeks dry with her hands. She swallowed hard and stared up at her boss through damp lashes. Crying wasn’t hard for her, after so many years of practise. Besides, she had plenty of tragedies she could bring to mind in an instant that would easily induce tears. Letting them out once in a while, even for a job, had to be therapeutic she supposed.

“I’m so sorry, Mr Gold,” she told him, quickly tidying her desk. “I should go, I... I’m sorry,” she repeated, and yet she stopped short of actually leaving, standing up but only contemplating the door with a real look of horror.

Gold didn’t quite know what to make of her behaviour. Belle was a marvel and no mistake. When she first started here he had wondered if she were as genuine as she appeared. All sweetness and light, it was a bit of a far fetched proposition for a young woman in this day and age, and Gold knew it. She made him wary, but he could find no evidence that she was anything but what she seemed. All her references and details checked out, and he always knew where to look. Yes, she was as real as he was, and she proved to be good at her job. He had no reason to think badly of her, much less get rid of her. Besides, he was almost starting to like having her on his team, competent as she seemed.

Things had changed a little this past week. Belle had been so shy and sweet in the beginning, but had started to show more confidence this past week. Shorter skirts, low cut shirts, Gold was only a man when you got right down to it and of course he noticed. She acted more or less the same, not making any kind of suggestions or moves that might be called inappropriate. She was as sweet and courteous as ever she had been, and just as useful to Gold, perhaps more so in fact. Yes, he liked her well enough, and no, he didn’t like to see her distressed. Gold just couldn’t understand what had Belle so shaken up.

“Is something wrong, dearie?” he asked carefully, uncertain as to if he should ask at all, but then there was no-one else here to do so. “You don’t seem very eager to leave.”

“What is there to go home for?” she sighed. “Oh, I’m such an idiot!” she cursed herself then, putting a hand to her head as if she was making it ache with her own stupidity.

Gold was still lost.

“Now, I’m sure that’s not the case,” he told her. “I don’t employ idiots as a rule, especially not in this office,” he said definitely, trying to catch her eye, but she would barely look at him.

“My work is the easy part,” she sighed. “Why is the rest of life so complicated?” she asked in earnest as she finally turned her head and met his eyes. “Why are some people just... just not what you think?”

She held his gaze then, as if trying to read whatever he wanted to say out of his head before the words were ever spoken. She was striking a nerve here and she knew it. It was true enough that Gold’s wife had died, she was certain of it, but the couple lived apart long before that, she knew from the details Regina had given her and further research of her own. He knew the pain of loss, of being hurt by someone he loved. Belle could use that. Of course, the best way to play him wasn’t like this. Gold wasn’t the kind of man to spill his guts just because some pretty girl cried a little and fluttered her eyelashes. She could do better than that.

“I’m sorry, I truly am,” she apologised again, tearing her eyes from his so suddenly as to surprise him into movement.

He shifted out of her way as she grabbed up her coat and purse, and moved towards the door at last. She called a further apology over her shoulder and a promise not to make a fool of herself anymore. Belle got all the way to the door but when she reached to open it, her body lurched. Her hand shot up higher than the handle to take her weight as she faked an attempt not to faint or similar.

Gold watched the curious shudder of her body and frowned. Something was really not right here. He hurried down the office towards her as fast as he dare, with his cane to support him but a bundle of folders under his other arm. As he reached Belle’s side he realised her eyes were closed and her body shaking. She wasn’t just upset, she looked positively sick.

“I’m s...”

“Belle, if you say you’re sorry one more time, I shall sack you,” he told her succinctly, just a hint of a smile playing at his lips as she glanced at him then. “Come along dearie, lets take you somewhere comfortable and get you a cup of tea, see if we can’t put a little colour back in those cheeks.”

A hundred thoughts ran through Belle’s head at the sound of those words, but not a one showed on her face nor reached her lips. Gold was a man, potentially a ruthless and bad one when it came to business, but she had no real fear about going upstairs to his apartment with him. He was half lame and twice her age. She had no doubt if he did prove to be the dirty old man some might suspect him of, she could easily defend herself. Three different martial arts served her well all these years, no reason to think they’d fail her now.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” she asked shyly, but Gold was already offering her to lean on him a little as they walked through to the elevator.

It was going to get much too repetitive if she kept playing the vulnerable card this way, but that was okay. Belle had many more plans that built off this one. Playing to your strengths was always a good idea, and her damsel in distress bit after the broken crockery incident had got her plenty of kindly attention. She was going in that direction again on purpose, at the same time using the emotional connection she needed to make here. She had a sob story prepared, rooted in truth as all the best lies were. It was that much easier to keep a story straight if you made up as little as possible.

No sooner was she seated on the sofa in Gold’s luxurious apartment, he was fetching a tray of tea things. He barely made it from the kitchen door to the coffee table weighed down by the silver tea set and two dainty tea cups on saucers without an accident himself, but Belle said not a word about that. She was the poor damsel, and he was her brave knight. That was the game, the basis of the fantasy.

“Thank you,” she said politely, offering to pour out the tea he had brought for them both. “I really don’t deserve you to be so nice to me”.

“Really?” asked Gold, eyes glittering with some kind of mischief apparently, something Belle had quite been ready for. “And why is that, Belle?”

“Well, we barely know each other,” she considered, mostly looking into the tea cups rather than at his face. “I work for you, the same as a lot of other people, and I’m sure they don’t get invited in for tea just because they’re so weak as to cry over a man not worth the time of day!”

She ended much more loudly than she had begun and with a hint of venom that came all too easily when she thought of a particular person she had once thought worthy of her heart. Oh, how wrong she had been.

“Ah, so this is what has you so upset,” said Gold, nodding knowingly. “Boyfriend trouble, is that it?”

“Not anymore,” said Belle snippily as she handed him his tea. “He stopped being my boyfriend just as soon as I realised what a pig he was. I am not going to be controlled, I told him that from the beginning. No-one decides my fate but me,” she said definitely.

Gold liked the conviction with which she spoke those words. A million miles away from the wide-eyed sobbing mess she had been downstairs, she was a tower of strength in a second, but deflated again just as fast a moment later.

“Of course, being strong and independent is all very well... but it gets awfully lonely,” she sighed, stirring her tea listlessly. “I just thought I’d feel better with him gone, but I miss him. I miss how I felt when I was part of something else, something bigger than just me,” she explained. “Does that make sense?”

“Break ups are always hard,” Gold shrugged non-comitally, sipping his tea. “I should know.”

“Really?” asked Belle with wide eyes as if she were genuinely surprised. “I wouldn’t have thought you had any trouble getting whatever you wanted, or keeping it for that matter.”

Gold smirked at that, one of those looks that could be equal parts sexy or evil dependent upon your point of view. It made Belle shudder in a way she couldn’t really dislike somehow.

“Let’s just say I’m a difficult man to love,” he told her, apparently not willing to say any more than that right now, as he drained his tea cup.

Belle floundered for all of a moment before she picked up where she left off.

“Well, I was the one who did the breaking up and yet I’m the one who seems to be suffering,” she sighed, shaking her head sadly. “I know it’s silly, I just... my mind gets distracted and I couldn’t face eating lunch. I suppose that’s why I felt so faint just now,” she explained. “I don’t want to be weak. I tried to get over it all easily, putting on these clothes, showing the world I wasn’t going to hide away like some frightened little girl. You must think I’m such a fool,” she said, puling at the short skirt she wore.

“We already established I don’t think that at all,” said Gold, leaning back in his armchair and observing her carefully. “You’re an intelligent young woman, Belle. You picked a wrong man, it happens,” he shrugged it off as nothing. “You had good reasons, and I think you know deep down that you deserve much better, that you are much better than this controlling oaf you’ve dismissed.”

“Thank you,” she smiled sweetly at him. “You’re very kind, and I’d like to think you’re right but... but what was I doing thinking this was better?” she continued, running her hands over her thighs and knees, bringing attention to her short skirt and shapely legs once again. “What must people think of me? What must you think of me?” she rolled her eyes. “I look so cheap.”

“No,” Gold answered immediately, more like a reflex than a response he had thought on much. “Sometimes Ruby, she can look fit for a street corner, but she works hard and I admit it doesn’t hurt for certain gentlemen I conduct meetings with to be distracted,” he explained, almost looking ashamed of it somehow.

Belle smiled genuinely because she just couldn’t help it.

“Your mode of dress these last few days has been a touch more risqué perhaps, but nothing inappropriate,” he assured her. “You are young, with a figure to be proud of, Belle. I take no issue with you showing it off, provided you do the work your paid for and don’t make a spectacle of yourself at my expense.”

It was all so proper, so civilised. He was being so sweet apparently, Belle didn’t quite know what to make of it. She had expected that charming Gold with her looks and shy manners would take time given how cold and bitter he could be at times. Instead, he seemed so easily brought to kindness and warmth with her. It was quite confusing.

“Thank you, Mr Gold,” she said politely putting her tea cup back onto the tray. “You’ve really made me feel so much better.”

She stood up fast making to leave, only for the table to be jolted by her foot. The tray shook, dislodging the cup she had not placed correctly. It tumbled to the hard floor with a thud. Belle stooped to pick it up on instinct, narrowly avoiding hitting her head on the same table as she rose again.

“Oh,” she reacted with genuine surprise, maintaining character by a thread. “Um, it’s... it’s chipped,” she declared, genuinely feeling just a little bad after he had been so nice to her. “I’m so sorry.”

Belle looked up through her lashes at Gold who appeared completely unmoved by what had happened.

“It’s just a cup,” he literally waved away her concern with on hand, wondering at how anyone could look so worried over something so simple - only Belle could, he thought. “And we spoke already about your apologising far too many times today, dearie,” he smiled in that almost mischievous way again as he rose to his feet.

“Right,” Belle nodded once, placing the chipped cup further onto the table where it could not fall again. “Well, I really should be going. I do honestly feel much better now,” she assured him.

By the door, they said their goodbyes. He checked if she needed him to call a cab but she declined. She had missed her usual bus but another would be along in just a few minutes, so she had no worries about it. There was one awkward moment when neither seemed to know how best to part company. She was his employee, a simple ‘see you on Monday’ was all that was generally needed, but here they were at his apartment, and he had been so sweet to her. Belle reminded herself she was playing this man, and must act accordingly, regardless of how he had actually made her feel.

“Thank you again for being so kind to me,” she said sweetly, leaning in fast and placing the lightest of kisses on his cheek.

In the next instant, she was gone from his sight, and Gold stood watching the elevator long after the car had taken Belle away. She was an extraordinary young woman, and in this moment, he really was not at all sure what to make of her.

_To Be Continued..._


	10. Chapter 10

Belle woke with a start, sitting straight up in bed and gasping for air. She was used to nightmares, even to strange and outlandish dreams. The work she did, the traumas she had been through in the past, things had a habit of mixing themselves up in the subconscious mind and throwing out the most ridiculous scenarios. Still, she hadn’t ever had a dream like this about a mark.

Most people Belle took on were too awful to think of as anything but evil, and few were even physically attractive enough to make an impression in any sexual sort of way. Now here she was, panting for breath as the images from a rather erotic dream continued to dance through her head even though she was awoken.

Gold was far from ugly, Belle was well aware of that. He was the handsome type, older than her by a fair bit, she knew, but he did look good on it. He had money and took care of himself, she had no doubt. His bad knee aside, he was fit and able as anyone ten years younger than himself, Belle was certain. In her dream, he had no cane to lean on and no trouble in walking. In fact he had swept her up into his arms and carried her to his bed with no problems at all.

Belle put a hand to her heaving chest and tried to calm her breathing as her mind caught up to what happened next. Obviously she had no real idea what kind of lover Robert Gold would be, her mind had simply thrown together her own past experiences and enhanced them tenfold until she woke up quite overcome from her imagined throes of passion with her supposed boss. He had made her scream and she’d loved every second of it.

“I don’t want that,” she said aloud to herself, but her body betrayed her in every way it possibly could.

Belle did want it. She wanted the reality of that dream she had just experienced so much right now that it hurt. Her stomach lurched when she realised what that meant, dampening her ardour considerably. She wanted the mark, the enemy, a man so amoral and corrupt...

Belle’s thinking took a distinct turn then. What proof did she really have of any of this evil behaviour by Gold? Perhaps he wasn’t the world’s most kind and considerate boss or man, but she had worked with him a whole month now and had yet to see any real evidence of his being so very bad. There were meetings and phone calls she wasn’t privy too, of course, since she had yet to go as far as bugging his office. Back with the team, that would’ve been Step One with most marks, but with someone like Gold you had to be a little more stealthy. Belle didn’t have access to the best tech anymore, not without contacting the others and taking risks. Some bugs were just too easily spotted and so she did things the old fashioned way. She wondered now if taking a technological route might have made getting evidence against Gold that much more simple, and not put her in the position she was in now, quite literally flirting with danger.

Calm as she was now from the dream that had startled her awake, Belle swung her legs out of bed and padded along to the kitchen. She most definitely needed a glass of water after all that, but she moved and fetched her drink on autopilot as her mind spun on. She had no solid evidence of bad business dealings by Gold. He had certainly proven to be a gentleman with women, even when he was practically offered them on a plate. He snapped at Astrid and others who worked for him, but Belle had to admit any employee that incurred his wrath that way thoroughly deserved it. She was surprised that he hadn’t sacked more of them by now. He was pleasant to talk to and made her feel comfortable in his home when she was upset. He cheered her up, genuinely and completely, and didn’t even lose his cool when she broke what she knew for a fact was be expensive chinaware.

Belle sipped at her water as she thought some more. The only actual evidence she had against Gold had come from Regina, and that in itself could easily be wrong. Big businessmen were always presumed to be somewhat crooked. To get as high and mighty as they did, their means had to be as foul as they were fair at times. It was true enough that many a powerful man and woman quaked at the name ‘Robert Gold’ meaning he had to be ruthless and that they knew his hard reputation. That wasn’t evidence, merely good rumour, since that was all reputation was, nothing solid until it was proven with real evidence. Belle couldn’t help but keep coming back to the fact that she had no true evidence of what Gold might or might not have done that was so very bad. She had believed Regina and a whole lot of rumours from the old days. When she and her team went after a mark, they checked them out thoroughly, gathered all the facts to show that these men and women were as bad as their clients professed, that the stories checked out. On this job, Regina had been Belle’s primary source, and everything else she had gathered herself was mere speculation, nothing concrete. Of course Regina would want rid of Gold, he was her main rival. Whether or not he had done anything she accused him of was beside the point to someone like Ms Mills.

“Stupid girl!” Belle berated herself, slamming her free hand hard against the counter top.

She should have checked more thoroughly into this con, she knew she should. Panic had been what fuelled her, worry and fear of what would happen if she refused to do as instructed. Regina had threatened Belle with the one thing that would guarantee her co-operation, hurting the friends that had become her family when her blood relations were no longer around to care.

Now it was too late and there was no way out. Well, that wasn’t strictly true, Belle realised, laughing humourlessly at the very idea of her only alternative. She could tell Gold the entire plan and bring him over to her side, but as much as she had no evidence of his being so very bad, she had nothing definite to say he was good either. No doubt he would love to see Regina brought to her knees, but he and Ms Mills could just as easily be plotting together behind Belle’s back.

Putting her face in her hands, Belle forced back the scream of frustration that rose in her throat. This was getting ridiculous. Two in the morning was no time for such considerations. She was going to drive herself completely mad if she carried on and would be no further forward in knowing the truth.

Finishing her glass of water, Belle took herself back to bed. She forced herself to think of better things, how happy Mary and David were now, and how she might get to visit with them one day when this job was over. Soon she had fallen back to sleep with a content smile at her lips... at least for now.

* * *

Robert Gold looked out of his window at the moonlit city. He should’ve gone home tonight, taken himself away from the office where he already spent too many long hours. The apartment wasn’t really far enough to let his mind take a break, but it was convenient. He came up here with Belle and then finished off some paperwork. By then he couldn’t be bothered to drive or even hail a cab, and so he had taken himself up to the bedroom on the very top floor of the building. Sleep came fairly easily in the beginning, but a disturbing dream had awoken him abruptly and since then he had not dare try to rest again.

Sipping at the large brandy he held in his right hand, his left leaned heavily on his cane as he stared out of the window still. It was a beautiful enough view, but his dark eyes were not really seeing it, they never did. Skyscrapers and such only held so much charm. Gold much preferred home, the rolling green hills and fields of his dear bonnie Scotland. Coming to America sometimes seemed like such a mistake, and yet it was a necessary move in order to achieve so many objectives. Some of Gold’s reasons had been the basis of his dream, mixing in with too many fears he harboured deep inside his blackened heart.

“Where are you son?” he muttered, before turning away from the window.

His eyes drifted to the bed he had abandoned half an hour before. Part of his dream there had been less dark and yet still equally as disturbing to him. A grown man of the world like Robert Gold was used to the occasional erotic dream, but this was different. Belle was different, that was for sure. She was like no other woman he ever met, sweet and innocent in one breath, seductive and desirable in the next. His dream had shown both sides of her in glorious Technicolor. Crying in his arms like a broken child in one scene, and then another had her straddling him atop his own desk, making his whole body quiver with her touch. Gold closed his eyes at the imagined memories and pushed them away for fear of what those kind of thoughts might do to him. He had to keep a clear mind where Isabelle Hart was concerned, not least because he wasn’t sure yet if he could completely trust her.

Nobody could be as genuine as Belle. Strangely, that was what made Gold suspicious. She was either entirely what she seemed or the world’s greatest actress. Gold just couldn’t quite decide which. There was no concrete evidence to suggest she was anything but what she appeared, and yet he couldn’t quite allow himself to believe it. She was so decent and pleasant to him, so alluring sometimes. She had to know that her behaviour often constituted flirting, surely she could never be so naive as to not notice. Women weren’t that way with Gold, at least nobody he hadn’t paid to be so. Most were extremely wary of a man with his reputation, but not Belle.

Shaking his head clear of such ridiculous thoughts, Gold moved to place his now empty glass on the table in the corner. He was reminded by the simple move of Belle with her cup earlier today. She looked so mortified that she had put a chip into the piece of china, when in truth it mattered not one bit to Gold, as he told her.

Perhaps she really was as sweet and naive as she seemed. Certainly she could be as endearing as she was seductive sometimes, whether she realised either quality existed in her or not. The mixture of them could prove almost too intoxicating to bear, but Gold knew he was stronger than that. No woman was going to throw a spanner into the workings of his very intricate plans. That was what he told himself, even if a voice in the back of his mind did tell him he was a fool to believe it, as he took himself back to bed.

* * *

“Was it really necessary to bring me here at this time of night?” he asked just as soon as she came into the office.

Regina tried not to react to the fact the visitor was sitting in her chair, his feet propped casually on her desk too.

“How did you get into this room?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

He looked completely unabashed as he smiled in an almost mocking way.

“Now that would be telling, wouldn’t it?” he told her, dropping his booted feet to the floor then and standing up. “Can we get to the point of why I’m here now? Your message was pretty vague.”

Regina said nothing, just stalked around the office to take her rightful place behind the desk, gesturing for her visitor to take the other seat. He declined and stood leaning on the back of it instead, waiting for the explanation he’d now asked for twice, to no avail.

“I know about your plan to propel yourself into riches since you already lost much of what you made with your old team of charlatans,” said Regina succinctly, watching just a flicker of confusion pass across his face. “Don’t ask how I know, because we’re both well aware of the fact I won’t reveal my sources anymore than you would be willing to reveal yours.”

“Agreed,” he nodded once, that familiar smirk coming back to his lips. “Still doesn’t explain why I’m here.”

“You’re here because I have a job for you, one I know you won’t refuse,” she smiled as close to evilly as could be imagined on a human being’s face as she tossed a folder onto the desk in front of him.

It was reminiscent of her meeting with Belle, and she knew it. Her scare tactics had worked well enough with that young woman, no reason to think her old team-mate couldn’t be played in just exactly the same way.

“You’ve been busy,” he said flatly, finally sitting down to properly review the contents of the folder.

One packet of information outlined the role he was to take on in an almost unbelievably stupid con. The other sheaf of paper told of a job already in progress, with Belle shoved in the middle of the whole mess. If he was understanding this deal correctly, he was supposed to walk into his old friend’s grift with one of his own, in an attempt to accelerate a dangerous situation into a worse one, with a view to bringing Robert Gold, notorious man of business, to his knees. If he refused, he had no doubt Belle would pay the price one way or the other. Worse, Regina could easily come after the innocent man that was his elderly father.

“So, Mr Booth, do you think you can handle my assignment?” Regina asked him, licking her lips almost as if she meant to be seductive.

“Of course,” August told her with a forced smirk, getting to his feet in one swift movement and turning to leave. “I’d say it was a pleasure, Ms Mills, but you now how I do hate to tell lies.”

_To Be Continued..._


	11. Chapter 11

In the last few weeks, Belle felt she had started to lose herself. It was easily done when one was on the grift for a long con, and it had been quite a while since she pulled a job this big. She spent Sunday being herself, Belinda French, the girl she used to be. She read her favourite childhood books and ate things that women watching their figure never should. She dressed in sweats and wore no make-up, and it felt good. By the end of the day she was smiling and everything felt right with the world. Unfortunately, when she took herself off to bed, her dreams proved she was so far removed from the innocent girl Belinda had been so long ago. Belle was certain that it was her determination not to dream of Gold that brought him to her mind at night. She would not even consider the fact that it meant she genuinely felt anything for him. That was impossible! Her plan was clear, to bring down Gold, and Regina too if she could, at least that had been the plan until she realised she might have been duped herself. It had occurred to her first that maybe he wasn’t the bad guy in all this. After that, the thought came to Belle that maybe Regina and Gold were setting her up instead. Now she just felt confused, not only as to what she was doing anymore but who she even was in reality, hence the Sunday of being herself and doing only what she truly wanted to do.

Monday morning rolled around faster than it should. Belle woke early and wasn’t sure she was glad about it. At least when she was awake she couldn’t dream anymore, though a part of her yearned to do so. As bad as it was, it felt so good, and she couldn’t shake the idea that if she did get that far with Gold, things could feel that intense and amazing.

“You’re going crazy, Belle,” she told herself as she got out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

Nobody was to be trusted right now, not any person surrounding Belle. Gold could be lying or telling the truth, he could be the black-hearted villain Regina spoke of or a veritable angel when compared to Ms Mills herself. The employees at Gold Industries seemed reasonable, pleasant, even friendly, but there was nothing to say which of them might be in cahoots with the boss or spying for Regina. The two business moguls could really be at war or just as easily in business together, with a view to squashing Belle and her old team like bugs before they could meddle any further in anyone’s affairs.

Belle wished her team were here now. Working on her own had suited her in the beginning, but since joining up with David, Mary, and the others, it had got so much better. Now she missed them not being around, both because they made her job that much easier and because they had become her friends. She trusted them implicitly, they had all learnt to depend on each other, it was why the split came so hard.

Belle hadn’t worked since. She could afford not to after the first heist the team pulled, but they had continued on as Robin Hood types until Mary fell pregnant and turned the whole plan to dust. They couldn’t work around her having a child, and every job was a bigger risk as they became recognisable. The team broke apart, and Belle was okay with it in the beginning. She took a long vacation and relaxed, wondering how she might spend the rest of her time, what she might become if grifting was no longer an option. She travelled and tried out different personas, different occupations, but nothing stuck. Coming back to America had been a last resort in a lot of ways, as she tried to find her way. It was two days after arriving back here that Regina’s men had nabbed her and this job had been set up. It gave Belle a direction at least, but not one she really wanted.

Stepping out of the shower, Belle wrapped the towel around her body and observed her own face in the mirror. She had to figure this out, how she was going to move forward in the job, at least. It ought to be easier than knowing where her whole life was headed, though even that question would need an answer eventually.

“Depends where the dice fall when it’s over,” she muttered to herself.

Belle knew that until she worked out who was the hero and who was the villain in this situation, she was never going to get out of it. Gold was getting closer to her, trusting her more. Before long she could get him to really open up, she was sure. Being a practised liar herself, Belle could usually spot one pretty easily. Once she had him falling in love with her and knew his game, she could make a real solid plan. In the meantime, Regina or her flunkies, whoever was physically watching Belle, would see her doing just what she had been told to do. It could work yet as a Step One on the long road to Belle’s success.

“You’re on your own, French” she told the reflection in the glass. “Time to prove you’re as brave as you say you are.”

* * *

Gold was only mildly surprised when he came into his office at seven in the morning and found a large top hat sitting on his desk. It was strange how punctual dishonest people could be, he thought, as he picked up the hat and turned it over in his hands.

“And here I was thinking that Hatter was a purely coincidental name,” he mused.

“It’s a purely fictional name and you know it,” said the man who had since appeared behind him, as if from nowhere at all.

He grabbed the hat from Gold’s hands with a scowl on his face that was almost amusing to the businessman. Still, it was quite impressive how the top hat was flipped easily onto the boy’s head, the way a magician would do it perhaps. He was a marvel at what he knew, that was for sure, but when he sat down in the nearest chair without even being offered to, Gold remembered why he found him so annoying.

“Now, how is this plan coming along, because I’m getting bored,” he said, propping his feet up on the desk - immediately, Gold knocked them off again.

“The girl I suspected of being Regina’s new threat isn’t the one,” he said succinctly as he perched himself on the edge of the desk.

“Really?” his young associate smirked. “You’re sure?”

“Don’t push me, boy,” Gold snapped, pointing his cane in the boy’s face though said boy never flinched “Your death may have been faked the first time, but an encore of more convincing proportions can always be arranged,” threatened Gold, before letting his arm drop to his side again. “Now, do you have what I need from Regal Corp.?”

“Not yet,” the boy shrugged, flipping his hat off his head, from hand to hand and back again. “Just because Regina, like the rest of the world, thinks I’m dead, doesn’t mean she won’t realise her mistake if she catches me in her offices. You think this is the first time I played both sides of the line?”

“I suppose not,” considered Gold, “but since you appear to live only by one name, it is rather difficult to research what you have done, Jefferson.”

“Therein lies the secret to my success,” he replied, spreading his hands wide and smirking annoyingly once again. “So, who is this mysterious girl that might’ve been the mole but probably isn’t?”

“We operate on a need to know basis here, and at this precise moment, you don’t,” said Gold with a smirk of his own, as he got back on his feet.

He folded his hands on top of his cane and wore such a look on his face as to make Jefferson realised he was being silently dismissed.

“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t try to help you,” he complained as he too scrambled to his feet.

“Help me by getting what I need from Regal Corp. and be grateful I didn’t ensure a far worse punishment for your considered drift to the wrong side of the line,” said Gold through gritted teeth. “Now get going. The girls will be here within the hour and I want you gone. Don’t want them thinking they’re seeing a ghost.”

Jefferson opened his mouth to say more but soon changed his mind. He was good at what he did, always had been, but Gold was one person he couldn’t really afford to make angry right now. He was walking a very fine line, and there was an almighty drop to suffer if he slipped off it. Jefferson left without another word, and Gold breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

The girls in the office were all hard at work when Gold returned to his office. He had gone back up to the apartment just as soon as Jefferson left, feeling it was better for him to enter the office at his usual time. Arousing suspicion amongst his staff, even allowing them to see one anomaly in his movements, it just wasn’t worth the risk right now.Breezing in through the door in his usual air of authority, Gold wasn’t surprised when Ruby turned and greeted him with a winning smile.

“Good morning, Mr Gold,” she said cheerfully

“Good morning, Ruby, ladies,” he greeted her and then the others, his eyes lingering perhaps a little too long on Belle.

She smiled and said hello, but there was something not quite right. She looked awkward, embarrassed even, and Gold could understand it. They had shared quite the moment in his apartment, nothing inappropriate as such, but more like friends than employer/employee. He let it go and continued into his office. The crush of a young woman in his employ was neither here nor there to him, and it wasn’t as if he had any evidence it even existed.

On Belle’s part, she really hadn’t meant to react in such a way to Gold’s entrance. Unfortunately, her mind running riot with erotic dreams by night, and plans for the con by day, she felt all of a whirl. When Gold walked in she almost panicked that he knew just exactly what was going on inside her head, even if that was ridiculous in reality. She had to pull it together, she knew that, long before Ruby asked her if she was okay.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly, forcing a smile on her face and a deep breath through her lungs. “Why would you ask that?”

“I don’t know,” her friend shrugged. “I just... well, you and Gold didn’t have a fight, did you?” she checked. “I mean, he wasn’t mean to you or anything?”

“No, of course not,” Belle forced a light laugh as if the whole thing was preposterous. “Everything’s fine,” she insisted, as she carried on opening up all the mail laid out on her desk, each envelope personally addressed to Mr Gold.

Belle’s eyes widened and her smile grew more genuine as she observed the card she now held in her hand. Here was an invitation, asking Mr Robert Gold and guest to attend a charity ball. She didn’t really believe he was the giving type, but these events were so much more than what they seemed. A chance for networking, even an opportunity to make dodgy deals in an inconspicuous setting. There was every chance Gold would need to attend, and if he did, well, he would need a date.

Hurrying with the rest of the mail, Belle put all the letters that could actually be dealt with by other departments into her out tray for later delivery, then picked up the pile that Gold would need to read personally. She put the invitation to the ball firmly on the top of said pile and wore a genuinely bright smile as she tapped on the door then strolled happily into the boss’ office.

“You are popular today, Mr Gold,” she told him as she came towards the desk.

“I doubt that, Belle,” he smiled slightly, “but thank you” he added, taking the letters and cards from her hand.

“I couldn’t help but admire the printing on the invitation,” she said. “I know it’s probably not real gold, but its so beautiful,” she smiled almost giddily, daring to perch on the edge of the desk. “Mind you, I have to wonder who spends so much on invites to an event to raise money for charity. The organisers could probably make a big enough donation themselves if they hadn’t spent so much on the fancy cards and just emailed everyone.”

Gold couldn’t help but smile up at her, his naive little Belle.

“Trust me, dearie, George King can afford both the posh cards and the donation, plus a lot more besides,” he told her, waving said card under her nose. “In any case, I rarely attend such events,” he concluded, then tossing the same card aside.

“Oh, I thought those type of things were where people of business made their best deals, and all those important connections,” she said, idly picking up the invitation. “Not that I’ve ever been to such a thing. I mean, a ball, a real proper one with men in tuxedos and women in fancy dresses,” she mused, running her finger along the beautiful embossed gold lettering. “I expect its like the fairytales I read as a child.”

Gold was mildly surprised to realise she was still there on the edge of his desk, gazing longingly at the card in her hand as if it were her own ticket to heaven. He didn’t know quite what to make of her in that moment, and it was far from the first time.

“I didn’t even get to go to my own prom,” she sighed, propping the invitation up on the desk then.

“And why is that, Belle?” asked Gold, without even considering why he would.

“No-one asked me,” she blushed prettily, getting back on her feet as if she only just realsied it might’ve been wrong of her to have sat down in the first place. “I wasn’t half so confident back then. I was too afraid to go by myself,” she smiled sadly, meeting Gold’s eyes, “ but you don’t want to hear my life story. I should get back to work.”

She was headed for the door, and suddenly Gold found himself calling for her to wait. A decision had quite made itself inside of himself, without him really having a chance to properly think it through. He would probably regret this, he was sure he would, and yet looking at Belle standing there, so beautiful and sweet, it was as if he had no control over the words spilling from his lips.

“Should you like to go to the ball, Belle?” he asked her, watching her eyes go wide.

“But Mr Gold, I... I don’t understand,” she floundered, clearly surprised by his offer.

“It’s quite simple, dearie,” he told her with a kind smile rarely seen on his face. “You made a quite convincing argument for my attendance to such an event. I’m sure it would do me good to network a little, and you know a man can hardly attend such a ball without a partner.”

Belle was all enthusiasm and the brightest smile she had ever yet worn, Gold was certain of it. All at once he was promising her a new dress when she said she had nothing fit to wear, and trying to calm her before she attracted the attention of the whole building with her rapturous thanks.

Perhaps this really was a ridiculous decision on Gold’s part, not least because Belle was half his age and his employee. Still, he wasn’t exactly planning on a relationship of any kind beyond a reasonable type of friendship, and any single source he had tapped for information on Isabelle Hart had come back clean. She was far too sweet and innocent in so many ways, there was simply no way she was one of Regina’s lackeys in disguise.

With all that considered, Gold was feeling that much more confident in his decision by the time Belle left his office, with a promise on her lips not to tell anyone else of their ‘date’ just yet, for fear of jealousy and rumour. He was doing a nice thing for a sweet young woman, a strange concept for Gold perhaps, but that didn’t mean the unlikely selfless act hadn’t put a smile on his lips that was unlikely to shift all day.

_To Be Continued..._


	12. Chapter 12

Gold had a feeling he may have made a rather large mistake. It wouldn’t be the first time in his life, and yet it was quite the rare occurrence these days. Every deal was carefully made, every decision considered to the nth degree. Robert Gold had not gotten where he was today by diving into things regardless of the consequences. He had not been so naive for many years now, not since he was young, foolish, and in love with an unworthy woman...

That path of thought led to no good, and he knew it. Gold threw his head back and gulped down the last of his scotch. Placing the crystal tumbler back on the desk, he watched the fading sunlight dance over the facets within it. Perhaps he was being as foolish now as he had been then, though he doubted such a thing were quite possible. Milah had been a singular woman, and these days Gold thanked the powers for it. One of her had been quite enough to deal with, and there was no coming back for that particular woman.

The newest female to cross Gold’s path was Isabelle Hart. She was also a singular young woman, and yet so very different to his wife that had long since passed. Belle was beautiful, indeed there was no denying that she lived up to the French translation of her chosen name, but she was so much more than just a pretty face. Many a girl had passed though the offices of Gold Industries over the years, both here in the States and back home in the UK. Good looking girls were ten a penny, a real beauty that existed inside as well as out, such a woman was that much harder to find these days.

Belle was true of heart and lively of spirit. Such a description made her sound like she fell out of an Austen novel and Gold knew it, but that did not make it any the less true. She was just different to any other woman he knew, and hypnotising because of it. Gold was suspicious at first. Such a woman ought to be too good to be true, perfect for the job she applied for, pleasing to look at, polite in manners, and wholly without any real fault but for the way she tried a little too much to please.

It was last week when she had stayed late at the office, her world apparently having been turned upside down by a break up. Gold had taken her to his apartment and talked to her as an equal rather than an employee. The truth of her seemed to be revealed in that conversation, her determination and resolve. She had depended too much upon some past lover, and yet was determined to make her own way in the world, to not be told what she should or shouldn’t be by anyone.

Belle was quite the contradiction, and that was what really had Gold intrigued. She was all the best traits of some demure young heroine, and at the same time a modern courageous girl, with a sense of humour and of purpose. She would make some young man excessively happy, and Gold caught himself scowling at that particular thought. Young; something he had not been in a while himself. From her records, Gold knew Belle to be almost precisely half his age. If nothing else made any connection between them inappropriate, that would. With his being her boss and barely knowing her added to the equation, it would be absurd for him to think of her as anything but a nice girl and an able employee.

Unfortunately for Gold, his subconscious was stronger than it ought to be and quite determined to keep a firm hold on Isabelle Hart. She haunted his dreams in ways he hardly dare think of when she was in the room. She had a way about her that seemed to draw him in to the point where he was saying and doing all kinds of ridiculous things without hardly meaning to. For example, inviting her to a charity ball that he himself had not even intended to go to!

The invitation lie on the desk still, taunting Gold. He had no real desire to attend such an event, making stilted conversation and smiling falsely at George King and his acquaintances. Gold’s dancing ability was limited by his bad leg, even if he should want to go spinning around the ballroom, which of course he did not. There was a vague chance he might make a couple of useful deals or connections, but somehow he doubted it. Still, it felt all too late to take back his words to Belle now. He never saw a woman so excited about anything so frivolous before. To think a young woman of her age would be interested in going to some old-fashioned charity ball on the arm of an old man like him. It was ridiculous, laughable if Gold was the type to laugh much.

“You’re a fool, Robert Gold,” he told himself, moving to get up from his seat then.

He sat back down rather more quickly than intended as his knee protested. Sitting too long in one place never did him any favours and the clock on the opposite wall proclaimed it was more than an hour since his staff had gone home. All that time he had been sitting here contemplating, thinking of Belle and the strange power she seemed to have over him of late.

“Get a grip, man,” he said to himself, forcing his limbs to cooperate and rising to his feet at last.

His mind soon twisted that particular phrase with the pictures of Belle that already danced between the gaps in his good sense. Oh, he would love to get a good grip of that young woman, but he would not. He had to be stronger and more sensible than allowing himself to fall into lust, nevermind love, with someone like her, or any one at all for that matter. Such a thing would be all but suicidal and Gold promised himself not to think about it anymore.

A few hours later, his subconscious would make a liar of him, as sleep overtook his body, and Belle once again overtook his mind.

* * *

Belle was feeling just a little bit too proud of herself when she arrived at work the next morning. Like any good grifter, she knew all about changing plans on the fly. When she worked as part of a team, David usually took the lead, and would always have no less than a dozen back ups built into any con. Still, he wasn’t the only one who could think on his feet, and any one amongst them would call the play as needed in a sticky situation. Belle had changed her own plan yesterday on discovering the invitation to a charity ball. Getting Gold to take her along as his date shouldn’t really have been so easy, and it even surprised Belle how effortlessly the man was swayed. Perhaps she had got under his skin more than even she realised. The trouble was, in the process of that, the infuriating man had got into her head!

The dreams would not go away. Last night she had gone to sleep with a mind full of plans for how the ball might play out, to the point where such plans had continued in her dreams. It was all so much like a fairytale, to the point where a night of glitter and dancing ended with a kiss. Belle had woken up more shocked by that than she ever had been by the more erotic of her dreams about Gold. There was such an innocence and sweetness to that kiss, and yet when the surprise of it subsided she had smiled. Perhaps it was a good omen, that the attraction she was manufacturing between herself and the mark was surely more than just physical. He was falling in love with her, she was sure that was what her subconscious mind had realised, though Belle quickly and definitely promised herself she still felt nothing, not a thing at all for Gold, in any way.

Belle walked into the office building with a spring in her step and a smile on her face. She greeted Ashley at the front desk and headed straight for the elevator, only to be called back at the last. Belle didn’t just stop walking, she stopped breathing when she realised who had said her name. This whole con could be blown sky high if she didn’t think fast. Putting the smile back on her face, she turned around on her heel and stared at the blonde coming towards her.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” she asked Emma with just a hint of panic shining through in her eyes.

The cop caught herself before she said anything else. It honestly hadn’t occurred to her that she shouldn’t just go blurting out the name of a gifter and thief in the middle of a public space, but she had been so startled to see Belle here. It seemed that was still her name somehow, though of course she couldn’t ask about it. Emma looked left and right, realising only the girl on the reception desk seemed to have heard her say Belle’s name anyway.

“Oh,” Ashley leapt up. “Belle, this is Detective Emma Swan,” she said with a smile. “I was telling her you’d be here before anybody else in Mr Gold’s personal team. You always are.”

Belle let out a breath she hardly knew she’d been holding and Emma allowed a small smile to curve her lips. The blond behind the desk clearly wasn’t the smartest of girls, that worked out just fine. It was true enough that she had just been telling Emma that if she wanted to see the boss she’d have to go through either Ruby or Belle, and that the latter was usually first in of a morning. It explained how she had come to ‘guess’ her name, and that was a relief for everyone concerned.

“Yes, I always am here early,” said Belle at length. “A pleasure to meet you, Detective Swan,” she continued, shaking hands with the startled cop. “Did you need to see Mr Gold about something in particular, or shouldn’t I be asking that?”

“Maybe there can be explanations on the way up to the office,” Emma suggested with a look that said so much more than her words.

“Of course,” nodded Belle, and led the way to the bank of elevators.

Even when they were inside the car alone, Emma didn’t dare speak. She waited for Belle to give her some kind of cue, so as not to ruin things as she feared she already had a few moments ago. Much more was going on at Gold Industries than she ever could’ve suspected, that much was clear. Emma wanted to know all and yet she did not ask anything yet, not until they reached the top of the building and Belle encouraged her to follow her out of the elevator into the office.

“Did you know I was here?” she asked straight out, all serious expression and a steel edge to her tone.

“Belle, I had no idea,” said Emma with a definite hand gesture and shake of her head. “There was a mugging down the street last night, I am only here to ask Gold if he might’ve seen or heard anything, and that is all,” she promised.

Belle knew it was the truth. Of all people she knew in her life, Emma was one of the most honest. In the life of a thief, such a person was rare, but they did exist and here was one of them. Belle didn’t automatically trust Emma because she was a police officer, on the contrary, there were plenty of dirty cops. She knew her from before, as a good friend of Mary, and as a client they had helped out in the beginning. Returning Henry to his mother, retrieving him from the clutches of Regina, it had been perhaps the team’s greatest feat, certainly it had been one of them.

“Okay,” Belle nodded once. “Just please don’t give me away, Emma. I’m in so deep right now, if Gold were to realise who I was, if anyone were to...”

“I’m not gonna blow your cover, Belle,” Emma promise, perching herself on the edge of a desk. “God, after what you and the team did for me? I owe you everything.”

“How is Henry?” asked Belle with a smile she couldn’t help as she sat down in her usual seat.

“Growing fast,” her old friend laughed lightly. “He’s good, settling into life with his real Mom,” she smiled then. “It was hard in the beginning but I’ve never been sorry that I asked Mary and you guys to help me get him back. My biggest mistake was almost losing him for good.”

Belle was only too glad that she got to help. It was strange, after years of living for herself and making her way in the world as she saw fit, to turn everything around and start to help others. Now she couldn’t imagine doing anything else, of using her skills for any other reason. Emma had been the start of her Robin Hood style adventure. Now that mission had been cruelly twisted against her, and by the first woman ever to be taken on by the team.

“I can’t believe I ran into you like this. Are the rest of the team around?” asked Emma in a whisper, even though they were the only two here and clearly Belle considered it a safe place to talk. “I mean, I know you guys split but...”

“We’re still split up,” Belle agreed, looking just a little sad about it. “Mary and David have their baby now, and as for the others...” she shrugged her shoulders, having not seen them for a good long while.

“Really? Because the other day I saw this motorcycle, and I swear...” she stopped when she saw the look on Belle’s face. “Probably not who I thought,” smiled Emma, though it wasn’t an entirely genuine expression. “So, how’d you end up here?” she asked then, clearly deciding a subject change was needed for both their sakes. “Are you conning Gold?”

“Supposed to be,” Belle agreed, feeling strange even saying so.

The last thing she wanted to do was mention Regina. She didn’t have the time to explain fully, and half an explanation could give Emma the wrong idea. If her cover was blown now, when she was making such progress, when she was carefully sitting between the rock and the hard place that were Regina and Gold respectively, she didn’t even want to contemplate what the consequences might be.

“You don’t sound so sure,” Emma frowned at Belle, trying to meet her friend’s eyes but she evaded every time. “Is something wrong?”

Belle opened her mouth to answer, unsure what exactly she even planned to say, be it the truth or just a twisted version of it. There was no lying to Emma, she always knew when something was wrong. Even Belle wouldn’t risk trying to con the cop she knew so well, not that she would want to pull such tricks on a woman that had so easily become a friend. She was saved from having to say anything to Emma at all when the door swung open and Ruby walked in with Kathryn on her heels. Astrid wouldn’t be far behind and even Gold would surely put in an appearance before long

Belle silenced Emma with a look and made brief introductions. It seemed Ruby had met the police officer before but the others hadn’t. Emma was easy about explaining why she was here, because she had no reason not to be. She kept quiet on her connection with Belle, acting as if she only just met her today. Coffee was made and Ruby assured Emma that Gold would arrive any second. He had all internal meetings today so he would definitely be around and probably even earlier than usual.

Right on time, the door opened and in came the boss. Belle forced a smile that was that much harder to find in the circumstances, but no-one seemed to notice. Emma rose from her place perched on the edge of a desk and Ruby got up to introduce the police officer to Gold.

“Detective Swan, how very professional,” he said as he shook the hand she offered. “Of course, I remember when you were simply Emma.”

The blonde looked adequately startled and for herself Belle was genuinely intrigued. She looked between the two people standing in the centre of the office, wondering the same thing that Emma asked, how on earth Gold could know her and yet she did not know him, except by reputation.

“It was a long time ago, dearie, but I knew your parents, once upon a time. You were such a sweet fragile-looking child, and now such a pillar of strength in the community,” he smiled in that way he had that always made Belle shiver, and not necessarily in a bad way, even when he wasn’t looking at her. “But you’re not here to drag up the past, you have a job to do,” he continued speaking to Emma. “Shall we go into my office so you can ask your questions, Detective?” he suggested, gesturing for her to go ahead.

Gold followed behind Emma, stopping just for a moment by Belle’s desk. His eyes looked sideways at her, barely a glance as he passed her a piece of folded paper.

“For your attention, Belle,” he said crisply. “See to it that it’s dealt with today.”

“Yes, Mr Gold,” she replied, bobbing her head in a nod.

Belle watched Gold and Emma disappear into the office, closing the door behind them, then let her gaze drop to the paper in her hand. She knew Ruby was watching her, waiting for her to explain what the note said. Belle would not tell her, she knew that before she ever unfolded the paper and read the words in Gold’s own elegant hand.

“As if I don’t have enough to do,” she huffed like it was a terrible bother to her to be given another task. “Does he know there are only twenty four hours in a day, and that we don’t have to work all of them?” she asked Ruby, rolling her eyes.

“Guess not,” her friend shrugged, though the look on her face was dubious.

Gold never passed her notes with secret tasks on them. She was given extra errands for him sometimes, picking up dry cleaning or chasing down the brand of coffee he specifically wanted, though actually those calls hadn’t come so much lately. When Gold needed one of them for anything, he called on Belle these days. Ruby wasn’t so sure she was okay with that.

Belle knew her co-worker was getting suspicious, but there wasn’t much she could do right now. She was forbidden from speaking of being Gold’s date to the charity ball. That was not to be revealed until the night itself, at which point she was almost certain he was going to pass her off as either a much-needed assistant for the work he wished to do at the event, or simply last minute desperation. It didn’t matter to Belle, the fact was she had a date with the mark, and she would charm him as easily as fairytale princesses charmed birds from trees. That was to be made even easier now Gold had given her a free pass to buy any dress and accessories she wanted on his own platinum credit card. It was hard to keep the wide smile off her face, but to her credit Belle did try. The thought of Emma in the inner office with the boss certainly helped quash her happiness. The cop was close to thirty, Belle knew that, and yet Gold knew her from when she was a babe in arms. He remembered so much, knew so much about people who barely had an idea about him. It made Belle just a little nervous. Gold did not claim to have known her before or seem to be working an angle at all, but then there was nothing to say he wasn’t just playing her own game against her. This con never did get any more simple.


	13. Chapter 13

“I still can’t believe that Mr Gold is going to King’s charity ball,” said Ruby before taking a long sip of her coffee. “I mean, I’ve heard him on the phone before explaining why those things are ridiculous and a waste of people’s time and effort.”

“After what happened when the Mother Superior came in here asking for a donation, I would never mention charity to him again,” said Astrid with a shake in her voice that sounded like genuine fear.

Belle didn’t know what to say when she walked into the middle of such a conversation. Clearly Mr Gold was not in his office or the girls wouldn’t dare to be having either an impromptu coffee break or talking about such a subject as this when he might just overhear. The way all three of them looked up when she walked in suggested to Belle they hadn’t wanted to include her in their little chat either. It was strange how that stung just a little bit.

“I’m sorry,” she said with a shake of her head. “Should I leave again?”

“Of course not,” Kathryn smiled, though the look didn’t seem entirely genuine. “You work here too,” she added, casting a significant glance in Ruby’s direction.

“Yeah, I’ll get you a coffee and you can join in the fun,” said her team-mate as she rose to fill Belle’s usual cup. “I mean, you must have an opinion too, right? On why Gold suddenly wants to go to a ball of all places?”

“Perhaps he’s just feeling charitable,” said Belle easily as she put away her purse and jacket. “Or maybe he’s just lonely?” she tried, pulling her desk chair over to join the others. “I mean he lives alone, and in a strange country. Any man would be lonely.”

“Gold’s not a man, he’s... Gold,” said Ruby with an undignified snort of laughter as she handed over Belle’s coffee. “It’s not like he dates or anything. I mean, he had a wife once, so they say, but now he’s all old and stuff.”

“Older people do date, Ruby,” Kathryn rolled her eyes. “But I have to admit, I wasn’t sure Mr Gold was the type to be... courting anybody,” she said carefully.

Ruby chuckled into her cup at both the concept and the wording. Belle wondered if perhaps she ought to join in the poking fun at the boss just to keep herself in with these people, or was it best to play things a little differently.

“I don’t think it’s nice to laugh at a lonely man,” she said with added sweetness. “After all, just because Mr Gold is older than us, he’s not exactly ancient. I’m sure he wouldn’t disgrace any woman that chose to be seen on his arm.”

The other three shared pointed looks then. Belle was sure they were already thinking something was going on. None of them were stupid, not even the clumsy and naive Astrid could fail to realise that something was amiss. If nothing else ought to make matters obvious, Belle being allowed to cut out for an hour this morning to get her hair done should have proved everything.

“Oh my God!” Ruby gasped at last. “It’s you! You’re dating him! Eeeeew!”

Belle was all indignation at such a comment. She couldn’t deny it, of course, and honestly she had no reason to. Gold had wanted it a secret up to a point so as not to start office gossip, but today was Friday, the day of the ball itself, and everyone would know the truth before long. Belle found she was mostly put out by the way Ruby found her alliance with Gold so disgusting. It wasn’t just the character of Isabelle Hart that saw such a reaction as childish and insulting, it was Belinda French too.

“Ruby!” she gasped. “I’m not dating Mr Gold” she said definitely. “He asked me to be his partner to the ball only because he intends to make a lot of deals there and it would be useful to have an assistant with him. Besides, I’m sure it would be very awkward to be the only single person at an event that will be all couples,” she said in all apparent innocence.

Kathryn watched her with suspicious eyes a moment and then smiled.

“You’re right, of course,” she said eventually. “And even if you were dating Gold, or someone else of his age, I don’t see what’s so wrong with that,” she shrugged, even as Ruby turned incredulous eyes upon her. “Love doesn’t know age, it doesn’t know any differences between people. You fall for whoever you fall for. The only real tragedy is when they don’t fall with you.”

Her looks and tone were sad at best and bitter at worst. She had known heart-break, Belle was sure, and unrequited love if she wasn’t mistaken. That was the toughest kind, she knew that herself. It almost made Belle feel bad for toying with the feelings of others, even with playing Gold for a fool. She had to remind herself again and again that he must deserve all she was bringing down upon his head, and so did Regina. Without getting close to Gold she didn’t stand a chance of turning this plan around on either of them. It had to be this way, whether she liked it or not. Increasingly, she really didn’t like it at all.

“We should probably get back to work,” she said eventually, turning back to her desk, hoping the others would take the hint and do the same.

It took a minute or two, but they did get back to their tasks before long and Belle let out a sigh of relief that she barely realised she’d been holding in. It didn’t really matter to her if the employees of Gold Industries turned on her. Belle reminded herself that these people were not really her friends. This was a con, a trick upon them all, whether innocent or guilty. Of course, underneath it all, Belle was still a person with feelings. It was hard sometimes when playing a long game like this not to start caring what other people thought or felt about you. There was a pain involved in duping the innocent bystanders, however much you tried not to do it, and falling into the trap of caring too much.

Belle shook her head clear of all such thoughts and looked to her computer screen. The work she had left to do today was menial and simple, it wouldn’t occupy her mind. Instead, as she moved through the usual daily office tasks, she let her thoughts wander to tonight, to the ball at which she must give such a fine performance. She would have to be in awe of everything, since she had told Gold quite particularly that she had never been to such an event, not even to her high school prom. That last part was at least true, but it wasn’t because she hadn’t been asked. It was painful to recall it now so Belle didn’t try, just focused on the night out she was going to get, in a sparkling gown and costume jewellery, looking every inch the fairy princess on the arm of a most respected and even feared businessman. All she really had to worry about was being recognised, but then all the businessmen her team had dispatched before were still either on the run or languishing in jail. None that knew her ought to be present at such an event, and any that might have seen her face before ought to be fooled by her new look. She had been a blonde for the majority of the time she ran with her crew, and rarely if ever dressed as elegantly as she would tonight. She would be like Cinderella at the ball, all dark curls, smoky eyes, and a dress to echo her partner’s name in stunning yellow-gold, nobody would suspect her real identity. Still, she didn’t exactly expect to be swept of her feet by a handsome prince. On the contrary, she expected to be the one bowling Gold over, and making him fall hopelessly, helplessly in love with her.

* * *

Gold almost cancelled this whole evening six times today. He had been mulling it over for a full week and knew he certainly had been a fool in both agreeing to attend this charity ball, and in asking Isabelle Hart to accompany him. Still, every time he genuinely considered calling her up and telling her the whole thing was off, his heart clenched in his chest and he just couldn’t go through with it.

In his minds eye, he saw her stood by the door to his office, wide eyed and smiling, brighter than the sun in that moment when he told her she might be his date to this occasion she saw as something from a fairytale. To make her so happy had made Gold himself smile far more than he usually would. Next thing he knew he was buying her an entire outfit, all she needed for the event they must attend. Such expense meant little to him really, still perhaps letting a young woman lose on the town’s clothing stores with his no limit platinum card had been a bad decision. Strangely, it seemed Gold was just hard-wired to trust Isabelle Hart. He couldn’t make sense of that. It was true enough that he had some faith in Ruby and Kathryn, even Astrid when it came to behaving properly and discreetly, but that trust had taken time to build. Belle exuded a good nature air, blended perfectly with every quality a confident young woman ought to have. If ever there were a perfect mix of damsel and heroine, it was her. It was why he had doubted her in the beginning. She seemed too good to be true, and yet, no amount of research turned up any evidence that she was more or less than she appeared.

Tonight would be a test as much as it was anything, and that could have a multitude of meanings as well, Gold thought, as he fastened his tie in front of the mirror. This ball would show off Belle to the world, on his arm no less. If anyone knew her, he would find out, if she had any kind of reputation for screwing over businessmen in any way, it would be revealed. At the same time, it might be good to see how the good people of town reacted to seeing him socially. It had been a long time since he ventured out in such a way, and he had his reasons, of course. Tonight was as much a test of his stamina for a night out as anything after too long out of practise! Keeping up with a woman half his age ought to be challenge enough, and when that particular woman was Belle; she may yet be the undoing of him.

Checking his appearance one more time in the glass, Gold moved his hair of his face and brushed lint from the shoulder of his suit. He looked down at his watch and realised now was time to go if he was going to pick up Belle and arrive fashionably late rather than ridiculously so.

Venturing the other side of town was not something Gold appreciated, especially in his highly polished Cadillac that was worth more than most of the houses he would pass on the way over there. Still, Belle ought not to keep him waiting long. She was a good and punctual young woman, he knew that at least.

It was a pleasant evening, so driving with the top down seemed sensible enough. Somehow Gold already knew that Belle wouldn’t mind at all. She didn’t seem the type to complain that her hairstyle was being ruined by the breeze or similar. Besides, even if she had a mind to, he would remind her he didn’t have to bring her along tonight at all. He had done her a favour and she ought to be grateful. Of course, the ways in which Belle might show her gratitude dancing through his head almost made him crash the car before he arrived at her apartment block. Gold barely had a moment to regain his composure, and no time at all to climb out of the car when the front door opened and there she was.

Belle had been watching from the window. She knew Mr Gold was always punctual and also that he would not wish to be kept waiting. Just as soon as she saw his car making its way down the street she hurried down the steps as quickly as her high heels would allow. It was so long since she last got all dressed up, Belle had quite enjoyed herself. Of course she had to make herself look good for work, especially since she started trying to gain Gold’s attention, but this was different. Balls, parties, big events, it had been too long after a great deal of time attending this kind of thing on almost a weekly basis. Thieves were usually at home in black cat-suits, hiding in the shadows, but grifters didn’t have to sneak around finding entrances, they made them. Belle was at home looking like this, when she was working a con anyway. Right now she felt just like the fairytale princess she had spoken of to Gold, and wondered how he would react when he saw her. Belle was fairly certain she was carefully straddling the line between classy and sexy. If the look on Gold’s face was anything to go by as he pulled up to the kerb beside her, she had got it exactly right.

“Well, aren’t you a vision, Miss Hart,” he said the moment he had shut off the engine and properly observed her.

“I don’t know about that,” she ducked her head as if terribly embarrassed by the compliment. “Just so long as I don’t disgrace the good name of Gold Industries, I’ll be happy,” she smiled sweetly.

“Indeed you shall not do that,” said Gold definitely, moving to get out of the car.

It was hard to take his eyes off her for a moment. The dress she wore might’ve been simply yellow, and yet when she shifted in the light, the material fairly glowed with a definite gold hue. The bodice was fitted to her shapely body, with a skirt that flared out a little to the floor. Belle’s dark curls were piled on her head, save for a few strands falling down to frame her face. Unlike some women he had known, Gold noted she had not painted her face up like a china doll but applied the minimum of make-up so that her natural beauty shone through, and beautiful she most certainly was.

“Mr Gold, is something wrong?” she asked, snapping out of a daze he had hardly noticed he fell into. “You’re staring at me and... well,  is the dress not what you expected? Because I almost...”

“No, no,” he waved a hand to dismiss her worries. “No, you do look very nice, Belle, I promise you. Beautiful in fact,” he smiled, deciding he may as well tell the nervous creature the truth of the matter.

She blushed a pretty pink at the compliment and once again ducked her head, feeling oddly girlish. It ought to be acting, but honestly, much of it was genuine in this moment.

“Do not shy away from a compliment, dearie,” he urged her, reaching a finger to raise her chin. “No woman on my arm should be so bashful. Indeed, you are never so lacking in confidence in the workplace, and this is a work-related function you know,”

“Yes, I know,” she nodded then, feeling strange.

Gold never touched her like this before, not once. They didn’t so much as shake hands at their first meeting, and though it was true enough that his arms had caught her when she faked a faint once, her body leaning against his all the way up to his apartment, this simple touch of his hand seemed to effect her so much more. Maybe it was simply the surprise of it, Belle couldn’t be sure. Perhaps it was the intensity of his gaze as he looked down into her eyes that made her shiver, since the warm breeze that whipped by them then was surely not enough to do so alone.

“We should go then,” said Gold all too suddenly, moving to open the car door and usher her into the Cadillac.

“Yes,” she agreed, climbing in.

She arranged her skirts as Gold got in beside her and turned the key over, reigniting the engine which purred to life. Belle looked sideways at her escort and smiled.

“You look very smart you know,” she said cautiously. “I mean, you always do, but... tonight in particular.”

“Well, thank you, Belle,” he replied graciously. “Now let us go, or the ball shall be over before we ever arrive!”


	14. Chapter 14

The car ride to the ball had been made in silence. Honestly, for a quick-witted grifter, Belle was feeling like quite the dunce right now. It would just be so easy to forget, to let her mind wander and pretend tonight was real. Life would be an awful lot easier if she were simply an administrator for a large company and the boss was taking her out to a function tonight. Belle knew even then there would be issues to consider. Men that dated or slept with their assistants often got bored, dumped the girl, and fired her simultaneously. There would be talk amongst her co-workers, his business associates, they could both become a laughing stock. Still, it would be that much easier than what was really going on.

Belle never thought someone like Gold could be so oblivious. Honestly, at this point she almost wanted him to realise he was being conned, even though the consequences of that didn’t bare thinking of either. He was a very intelligent man, but she was equally as good at what she did. She supposed with her altered records he never should be able to find out she was a fake, plus with all her years of experience she played her part very well. Belle ought to be glad he didn’t think she was anything more than she appeared, but somehow it was of little or no comfort right now.

“Are you feeling alright, Belle?” he asked, as he pulled up the car outside the hotel.

It was only when he asked that she realised her deep thoughts and concerns had put a frown on her face. She blinked it all away and found a smile, not least because he seemed so concerned about her.

“I suppose I’m just nervous really,” she half-lied. “All those people in there...”

“You shall not disgrace me, Belle, truly,” he promised her, his hand briefly on her arm. “It is only a stupid charity ball and these are only people like you and I. They’re not beasts and monsters to be slain,” he smiled kindly.

It was moments such as these when Belle found it most difficult to remember that Gold himself was indeed such a monster, or at least he was supposed to be. With each passing day, she wondered more and more if the evil Regina had fabricated much of the rumour about Gold herself. It would make sense when Belle thought about it. Regina and Gold held the markets in their hands, almost half and half. With Gold out of the picture, Ms. Mills would be queen of all she surveyed. Belle couldn’t believe she had been so stupid as to believe that Gold was that much worse than the head of Regal Corp. It was becoming increasingly obvious that the whole situation might well be reversed.

“Everything is so... I never saw so much finery in one place” she enthused then as they entered the building, Belle deciding that getting back into character was her best bet.

The more she let herself wonder on the legitimacy of this con, the less able she would be to complete it. She at least had to give the impression of wanting to complete this job, for fear of what Regina might do to those she loved if she failed. Belle was still trying to figure out how to turn this thing around and take that evil bitch out too. So far, not so good, and it didn’t bare thinking about when she ought to be concentrating on the matter at hand.

This whole thing might’ve been made easier if Belle didn’t have to constantly be on her guard. The ball would be crawling with business people, some she may have met before under another guise. She hoped her new look would see her through, and her ability to be convincing as a whole other person at a moments notice, but it was just a little worrying. She knew the moment they approached the main room that there was at least one here that would know her, though she was the last person who would ever want to blow Belle’s cover.

“Come now, dearie,” said Gold, picking up Belle’s hand and looping it through his arm. “No need to be nervous,”

“I’m fine,” she lied, trying not to lean on him too much, after all, he was already having to cope with her on one side and his cane on the other.

Fine went out the window as they headed into the lavish ball room and the very first person to approach them was the one Belle dreaded most.

“Robert!” cried Regina with too wide a smile. “Well, what a wonderful surprise! George did say you’d accepted the invitation but I must say I was dubious as to whether you’d actually be here,” she rattled on, completely blanking Belle as she expected she might. “Of course, I know you can well afford the entry fee, but I also know how hard it is for you to find the time, or a suitable companion,” she said then, finally casting her eye over Belle as if she were a bug under a microscope.

“Well, we’re all getting older, Regina,” Gold smiled too politely. “But you and I, we just seem to carry on regardless, don’t we, dear?”Belle wanted to laugh but daren’t. She still wasn’t sure what would happen now that she was officially meeting Regina in front of Gold. Still, it was fun to see them square up to one another and him to come off best! She was half expecting him to introduce her to Regina, which would be awkward, but she would’ve coped. As it was, he just swept them both right past the other woman without so much as a glance back. Belle was a little astonished.

“That was Regina Mills, wasn’t it?” she said in all innocence, even now as she felt the other woman’s eyes burning into her back.

“Aye, it was,” Mr Gold agreed. “Miserable old witch,” he muttered then, at which Belle bit her lip.

Perhaps she ought to have looked more shocked or something, but even her innocent girl act couldn’t hold up against everything bad. Regina really was what Gold called her and it probably wasn’t a stretch to believe a girl like her would find it funny to hear him say so. Forcing back a giggle proved harder than it should to the point where he noticed her reaction.

“I’m sorry, Belle,” he apologised as they reached the far side of the room and the buffet table it held. “I’m afraid Ms Mills and I have been rivals a long time. She does not bring out the best in me.”

“She doesn’t seem as if she would bring out the best in anyone,” said Belle kindly and truthfully too as it turned out. “Nobody seems eager to talk to her,” she noted, looking back across the room the way they had come.

There was a definite void around the head of Regal Corp, with hardly anyone willing to go up and talk to Regina voluntarily. She was forced to approach others and even then they all seemed to flinch at the contact. Belle might feel sorry for her if she didn’t have reasons enough to believe Regina deserved all that she got.

“You might notice as the evening wears on, Belle, that not a great many people want to talk to me either,” Gold noted.

For some reason, that particular fact was far less amusing to Belle. She couldn’t help but note the sadness and bitterness in Gold’s tone somehow. Perhaps he really didn’t always want to be so isolated, so very much feared that no-one dared to know him better. It worked well for a con, for a lonely man was that much more easily swayed into believing he was at last loved, and then to love back. Belle couldn’t explain why her insides twisted up so uncomfortably when she thought about the way she was playing Gold right now. She would blame the tight bodice of her dress for such feelings tonight, even if she knew for certain she was lying to herself.

“Well, if everyone else is too afraid to come and speak to you, I’m certainly not,” she said definitely. “You won’t ever be lonely with me around,” she promised, with a winning smile.

“Indeed not,” he agreed, returning the look.

Belle noted he looked all the better with a smile on his lips, a real genuine, non-threatening smile the like of which she had rarely if ever seen on his face. Now that she did see it, she liked it very much. Perhaps this was the real man behind the mask he usually wore in front of others, when conducting business and the like. She wasn’t sure yet, but tonight might be a good time to find out.

“Robert Gold!” a voice boomed his name, and both he and Belle turned quickly to see the host of the ball approaching them.

“George King,” he replied as he faced the other businessman.

Belle watched the genuine smile she had been admiring twist back to that sinister grin she had seen too many times before. Gold did not like King, that much was entirely clear, which made it even more of a feat for her that she had convinced him to come to this event in particular. Strangely, Belle didn’t feel like patting herself on the back right now, she just felt awkward as King came closer and shook Gold’s free hand.

“It’s been too long since you graced us with your presence, Gold,” he told his fellow man of business. “Glad to see you.”

“Indeed, George,” he replied, extracting his hand as soon as he was able. “And of course I’d love to stay and chat but I see the dancing is beginning and I did promise Miss Hart here a turn about the floor.”

Belle hadn’t had a chance to get her bearings yet when suddenly she noted Gold was carefully resting his cane at the corner of the table and grasping her with one arm about her waist. He led her into the middle of the floor, a little more of his weight than usual leaning her way. This was going to be interesting.

“Um, are you sure you can..?” she started to ask, immediately regretting it when something akin to a growl emitted from Gold’s throat.

“Just dance, Belle, don’t ask questions,” he told her with a tight smile.

The next thing she knew, Belle was being led around the floor by her partner in a waltz she recalled in a heartbeat from her youth. Yes, she had learnt all of these traditional dances a very long time ago, and they had come in handy over the years. How long she and Gold could hold each other up however, that was another question entirely. There were days he struggled to even walk, though today he hadn’t seemed so very bad and tonight she was certain his cane had barely been touching the floor as they strolled across the ballroom. Perhaps he could manage one dance, though he was leaning her way quite a bit. Belle was strong enough, she could manage for now, though the closeness between them, borne out of the nature of the dance as well as his need for support, brought on feelings she wasn’t expecting, that was for sure. Her mind exploded with pictures from her dreams, criss-crossed with the strange tingling feelings she got when he touched her earlier, when he smiled that particular smile.

“You dance beautifully, Belle,” he told her as he turned her around once more.

“Thank you,” she replied, swallowing hard, trying to concentrate only on the here and now, drumming into her own mind that this was a job, a con, nothing more. “I hardly expected you to be so light on your feet.”

“Because of my age or my limp perhaps?” he asked her quickly, almost throwing Belle off.

She honestly hadn’t meant for her words to be insulting in any way, but with all the thoughts already spinning in her head, every time he twirled her around she felt more and more giddy. The worry must have shown on her face for Gold immediately put her at ease.

“Relax, dearie, I’m only teasing you,” he assured her. “I’m sure nobody here quite expected to see me dancing tonight, anymore than I expected to be doing it. Unfortunately, I was backed into a corner by George King. He is one of the most odious and ridiculous men I’ve ever come across in my life!”

Belle tried not to laugh but found it difficult. She had heard similar accounts of King herself, though she and her team had never come up against him directly. He was infinitely rich and successful but the vast majority of that seemed to have come from fair means. There was certainly no evidence to the contrary that she knew of, and so nobody ever asked her and the team to take him down.

“I am sure he is not as bad as you say,” she defended him anyway, as her character would in such a moment. “A great many people might think you aren’t the nicest person in the world, but I know how kind you can be,” she smiled sweetly. “Thank you for bringing me here tonight. It’s wonderful already, and we’ve only been here a short while.”

It was a strange moment as he met her eyes then. Belle would’ve sworn Gold was going to kiss her if she wasn’t hard-wired to know better. Of course that was the plan, he was supposed to fall in love with her, but to kiss her in a public place like this, she hardly thought it likely. What was worse was the realisation that she really did sort of want him to do it, just move in and capture her lips in a searing kiss. It was such a shame when it didn’t happen, and Belle mentally slapped herself for thinking so!

Another couple seemed to come out of nowhere, narrowly missing a collision with Belle and Gold. The shock of it made him stumble and she all but had to catch him before he fell on top of her. The dance was done, not least because he was embarrassed and angry at what had occurred.

“Let’s go and sit down,” she suggested, trying to take his arm.

“For Gods sake, I’m not a child!” he growled at her, pulling his arm free of her grasp.

His ankle hurt like hell, and he ought to have known it would. What a foolish thing to do, spinning around the floor like a giddy teen. Belle was having him become an idiot for her, by design or otherwise, Gold couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t like it at all. Still, snapping at her was surely unfair. He tried not to stagger too much and got himself to a seat, thankfully in reaching distance of his cane.

“I am sorry,” Belle told him as she came to sit beside him.

“It is not your fault, Belle,” he assured her, sighing heavily, knowing being angry with her would be unfair and unwarranted in the extreme. “It was my stupid idea to dance, and it shall not happen again.”

She was a little disappointed to hear that. For all the lies she told, much of Belle’s character was routed in truth. She loved a ball, she loved to dance. Being in Gold’s arms had felt so good and she was sure her plan for him to fall for her was working. Now he was in a bad mood and that was no good for anything.

In the time that followed, a few people wandered over to speak to Gold. Belle was grateful not to recognise any of these men and women of business, so all had to be either reasonably good people or very good at covering their tracks, she supposed. Gold was all business with them, hand-shakes and vague talk of deals to be made. Belle felt ridiculously bored. She was here to charm Gold, to make him believe he was falling in love. Now he barely wanted to look at her apparently, not even when he was introducing her to people. Even then she was his assistant and not his date. Belle felt stupidly put out by what she saw as an insult. Her eyes wandered around the room, to couples dancing, talking, laughing.

“If you wish to dance, Belle, go and do so,” said Gold then, though she wasn’t sure when he’d started paying attention to her again.

“I never...” she began to argue but just as soon as she glanced his way they both knew she was lying. “I wouldn’t leave you alone like that,” she said definitely, raising her chin. “Dancing is not so important to me.”

“It is a ball, dear. It is expected,” he told her, finding just a hint of that genuine smile she was starting to like too much. “I may not be able to participate, but many a young man here has been admiring you...”

“Of course they have,” a voice broke though their conversation, and Belle tried not to react as she looked up to the source of it. “In fact you’ve given me the perfect opening, sir,” he said to Gold with a grin. “May I ask your partner to dance?”

“Well, that is up to Belle herself,” the older man replied, through gritted teeth though at present Belle failed to notice, her eyes stuck on the man before her, holding out a hand. “I am her employer but not her keeper. Belle?”

Her name being spoken seemed to bring her out of the daze she’d fallen into, and yet Belle could only nod dumbly as her hand was grasped firmly in the stranger’s own and he whisked her away to dance. Of course, he ought to be a stranger to her and certainly would be to Gold, but she knew him all too well.

“What are you doing here?!” she hissed across at him, even as he took her into his arms and they began to dance.

“Is that any way to greet an old friend, Belle?” he smirked at her.

“August, you’re not funny,” she whispered what she would like to shout but feared to do so. “I want to know why you’re here. Did you know I would be?”

“Of course I did,” he told her, rolling his eyes. “It’s all by design, Belle. I’m playing the same game you are.”

Belle wasn’t sure how to take those words. August always was a bit of a puzzle even when they were on the same team, working side by side. No matter what con they were pulling, she had a feeling his own agenda was in play. She trusted him to have her back in a crisis but there was always that element of wondering what he was thinking, what he might up and do out of the blue without warning. It made her uneasy then and the same now as he turned her out into a twirl and then pulled her close again.

“So, Emma did see you the other day,” she smirked, getting a little of her own back, she knew, as she watched his expression show surprise. “I’m not sure she she’ll be glad to realise it.”

That made his smile fall into something akin to pain and Belle almost felt bad. Still, it was a little insane that the thief was in love with a cop of all people. Emma never really returned August’s affection back in the day, though his constant flirting and gifts made his feelings very plain. Emma was in it with the team only as long as it took to get Henry back, that was always the deal. After that, she did let certain things slide where the Robin Hood style thieves were concerned, and never asked questions when they gave her leads. Still, she never did quite fall for the ever-present charm of the unlikely-named August W. Booth.

“You seem to be doing a decent job with Gold,” he whispered across to her then. “Honestly, you play the part so well, I’m not sure why Regina was even worried”

That made Belle frown. So it wasn’t just that August was here to con someone, he was here to con the same person as her. Regina had got to him too, and that made Belle more than a little wary.

“What’s going on that I don’t know about?” she asked suspiciously. “August?” she prompted when he only smiled.

“A twist in the plot,” he replied with a wicked smirk. “Trust me, Belle, it’s for the greater good,” he promised, turning her in a final twirl. “Unless you really are falling for the old man?”

It was supposed to be a joke but when his eyes met Belle’s own she realised he saw some truth in it. She made herself laugh on purpose and hurriedly denied everything in muttered tones just as the dance ended. She scrambled to get away from her old team-mate for fear of what had just happened here. She didn’t love Gold, not even close, in fact she cared nothing for him at all, she told August as well as herself. Funny then that she just couldn’t seem to drown out the voice in her head that called her a liar. She rushed back to Gold with a purpose, hoping against hope that she had done nothing to embarrass herself or make him suspect her. On the contrary, it seemed he had hardly been paying attention to her dance with August. Belle noted the retreating form of a man in a well-cut suit disappearing from Gold’s side and back into the crowd as she approached. If she didn’t know better, she would have said it was Killian Jones, but she knew how much Gold despised him. The business deal they had made a few weeks ago was only made because it must be, not because Gold had any wish for an association with such an untrustworthy wretch. He was such a schemer, even her old team had never quite found a way to go after him successfully.

“Is everything alright?” asked Belle as normally as she could manage whilst retaking her seat beside Gold.

“Of course, Belle,” he replied too smoothly as he handed her a glass of champagne and sipped at his own. “Everything is absolutely fine.”


	15. Chapter 15

Belle was so very uncomfortable. She could usually grift her way through any given situation, feeling as comfortable in the skin of a character as she would in her own. Tonight had started out that way but had quickly fallen into something else. She couldn’t concentrate and was starting to flinch at the slightest thing. She was going to blow her cover before long if she wasn’t careful. Gold had to notice how nervous she was being, though he would have no clue as to her very good reasons. Between the presence of both Regina and August, the suspected conversation between Gold and Jones, and her own inability to properly deny any feelings for the mark, Belle just wasn’t having a good time, and her job was made increasingly difficult by every one of these factors.

“Are you quite well, dearie?” Gold asked her as he returned to her side.

He had been talking with a couple of business associates, neither of which Belle had an urge to face. She had conned so many, it was not worth the risk of getting close to anyone who may have once been a target of her team or even a friend of an old mark. She would rather stay in her corner, out of sight right now.

“Yes!” she replied too sharply. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I only asked a question,” he told her, his own voice turning to steel in an instant. “You might remember I brought you here for your own pleasure and at considerable expense to myself. Such thoughts might lead to you moderating your tone, Miss Hart.”

Belle bit her lip, drew in a calming breath, and managed to find a smile as she let it out.

“I’m sorry,” she apologised, all sweetness and light once again in an instant. “I suppose it’s just so overwhelming for me. There are so many people and... and I suppose I feel a little judged.”

“Now why would you feel judged, Belle?” asked Gold as he sat down beside her. “You are by far the most beautiful woman in the room.”

There was that intensity to his gaze again that quite hypnotised poor Belle. Her plan was working, he was falling for her and that was good, but she couldn’t account for the way her own heart sped or her thoughts turned fuzzy when he looked at her like that. August was wrong, she wasn’t in love. That was never part of the plan, and yet...

“Thank you,” she forced out eventually, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks and hating it. “But I’m not like these people. I’m just a girl who works in an office, your office, and... and you know what some people will think,” she said, looking down at her own hands in her lap.

Of course he knew. Gold wasn’t stupid and he must have known when he invited Belle to this ball what some people might think. A young woman half his age and beautiful, the newest member of his staff. Not that he was the lecherous being some would make him out to be, but they would think it. Gold had vowed not to care about such things, but he hadn’t thought of Belle in all this. These days not much thought was put into a young lady’s reputation. Most didn’t care what the world thought of them, what rumours might abound. Gold knew Belle was different, or he ought to have known, ought to have considered all this long before he asked her to accompany him here tonight.

“Belle, I’m sorry,” he said, his hand on hers making her look up fast. “I hadn’t honestly considered the effect that rumours and such might have on you. Forgive a silly old fool?” he urged her with a small smile.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” she sighed then. “You’re not old, and you’re certainly not foolish,” she assured him. “Maybe neither of us really thought this through beyond the fun of a night out, but it’s okay. I’m sure my reputation will survive,” she smiled sweetly.

The smile started wavering the moment she noticed the new arrivals at the ball. George King was walking back into the hall with various people in tow, some with cameras. There was no doubt in Belle’s mind who they were - the press. Of course, a big charity event like this required publicity, not just before but during and after too. King wasn’t just helping the needy, he wanted to appear gallant, generous, and wonderful to all that knew him or might be interested in his business. If the press started taking pictures, if she should end up in a newspaper or magazine, Belle knew she was blown.

“Mr Gold, would you be very angry with me if I said I’d like to leave now?” she asked as sweetly as she could, trying desperately to keep the panic out of her tone.

“Not angry at all, dear,” he assured her. “I must say I am surprised, Belle, but not angry. I thought this was somewhat of a dream for you?”

“Ah, but like many a dream or fantasy, Mr Gold, the reality does not quite measure up to expectation,” she told him, though her smile remained, her eyes were trained on the press across the room.

“Indeed,” he seemed to agree with her and was quick to stand up beside her and follow towards the door to leave.

Of course, Gold was more interested in keeping his focus on anything but the way Belle spoke of dreams and fantasies. It only served to remind him of a couple of nights spent inside his own mind, with this beautiful woman in his arms. It was the most ridiculous situation. Not that it was so very shocking for a man to find a woman like her attractive, but he was scarcely ever so much moved by someone as he was by Belle as to conjure her in his dreams. She was a singular person, he had often thought it, and never more so than tonight in all her beauty and elegance.

Perhaps this was why he never considered her reputation in all this. Belle never seemed to care much what people thought. She was stronger than she sometimes appeared, even if her resolve did crack on occasion, in private. Gold felt privileged that she allowed him to see all sides of herself, whether she had meant to do it or not. He was not so free with the truth or his private thoughts and feelings, and always thought he was better off for it. Yet with Belle, he was almost willing to let his guard down a little.

Had he not just told her she was the most beautiful woman at the ball? It was as shocking for Gold to hear himself say it as it was for Belle to hear, he was certain. He really wasn’t that person, hadn’t been for years, not since his heart was thoroughly torn out by another. He liked women, of course he did. He found them attractive and did not at all mind their company when the fit took him, but a relationship, falling in love, these were fanciful things for young people that Gold considered himself incapable of now. The more time he spent with Belle, the more he got to know her, the more the little voices in his heart and head chorused that he was a liar.

“Oh, it’s suddenly as if I can breathe again,” admitted Belle as they stood together on the sidewalk at last. “Do you not find all those people intimidating?” she asked, immediately laughing at her own naivete. “No, of course you don’t, you’re used to it.”

“You would think so, wouldn’t you?” he replied, looking down at the ground, his shoes suddenly very interesting apparently. “Honestly, Belle, company in such large amounts is not really my idea of fun. There are few that wish to talk to me in there, and quite frankly, even less I would want to engage in conversation. I should much rather talk to you than anyone else,” he confessed.

Once again the words had tumbled from his lips without any real thought to them, and it was almost frightening how easily it happened. If Belle was startled she didn’t show it, just smiled and blushed as any young woman being complimented might. Though it had been said without thinking, the words Gold spoke were still perfectly true. He really would be infinitely more comfortable alone with Belle than at the ball, even if the two of them without company meant his mind might meander. He was old enough and smart enough to control himself, to not let his hands wander where his mind tended. Poor Belle, she would not want that, he was certain.

For her part, Belle wasn’t sure how to react. She was trying to make Gold fall in love with her and ought to be glad it was working, yet every time he paid her a compliment or fixed her with one of his most intense gazes, her concentration crumbled. This character she was playing, she had to hold on to it, but more and more the real Belinda French was slipping through. It was becoming increasingly difficult to remember what she was here for, to now allow herself to start falling along with the mark. She had assured him not ten minutes ago that he was not so foolish as he seemed to believe, but about herself, Belle could not be so sure. She surely was a complete idiot if she carried on like this, allowing herself to get swept up in this entirely faked relationship, and yet Gold was making it increasingly difficult to resist.

‘Stick to the task at hand, French,’ she told herself sternly as she watched Gold walk away to get his car fetched around by the valet.

Belle repeated these words over and over that he was a mark, that he was a bad man, that she ought to hate him, but Gold just showed no sign of being anything but rich and occasionally bad-tempered. These were not crimes, and he couldn’t be this evil monster Regina painted him as, Belle was so sure of that now.

“Are you hungry?” she found herself asking suddenly. “I was just thinking, we didn’t get to eat much at the ball, and there’s a diner not far from here…”

“A diner?” asked Mr Gold in apparent shock. “You want to go to a diner dressed like this?” he asked with an amused expression that made her grin – she did so love when he smiled genuinely like that.

“Why not?” she shrugged. “Enough people stared at me in the place where I was supposed to fit in wearing this dress,” she reminded him. “What’s a few more in the most unlikely of places for a ball gown?”

She really was a marvel. A confusing, beautiful, exasperating marvel, and Gold loved that. He loved her on some level he could never explain and would certainly never confess to, and the realisation of it rooted him to the spot for what felt like fully ten minutes, though in reality could not have been more than one.

“So, are you hungry?” Belle repeated when Gold was quiet too long.

“Er, yes,” he said at last, shaking his head to clear the jumble of thoughts that had settled there. “Yes, I suppose I am.”

He moved to open the car door for Belle but swiftly changed his mind. She frowned at him, just a little startled when he led her by the wrist to the other side and opened the driver’s door instead.

“You have a license, do you not?” he asked her, watching her nod dumbly. “Then you shall drive, if you like. After all, you know where this diner is and I am in the dark.”

His smile was forced now, awkward even, and Belle knew it. She wondered what his real reason was for having her drive, but didn’t let it show on her face. It wouldn’t do to allow him to read her as easily as she was reading him after all. She had to stay in control of this situation and not allow it to overcome her.

Belle strapped herself into the driver’s seat of Gold’s Cadillac, thinking how it was easier said than done to keep herself on top of this situation. Sat this close to Gold she soon realised that thought of being on top were not helping her think straight at all.

“Are we going, Belle?” he asked when she sat staring too long and made no attempt to start the car or even take the keys he still held out to her.

“Oh, um, yes, Mr Gold,” she answered like a reflex as she took the keys then.

She stilled half way to starting to engine when she realised what she had done. This was all but a date and she was still calling Gold by his formal name. Though both her real self and her persona knew his first name, Belle had never once used it.

“I think in this situation, it might be quite suitable for you to call me Robert, if you would like,” he said kindly as she glanced sideways at him.

“Robert,” she repeated, as if testing out the sound of it. “Yes, I like Robert,” she told him, with a deliberately coquettish smile.

A moment later, Belle put the car in gear and pulled away from the kerb, driving them to their next destination. For now, she felt in control.


	16. Chapter 16

“Mr Gold, are you staring at me like that with a purpose?” asked Belle, peering over the top of her menu.

They were sat either side of a booth in the back corner of a fifties style diner that Belle had visited a couple of times before. She knew it was a safe spot, she had only ever been here as Isabelle Hart, once was even with Ruby in tow, so she had no worries about being busted. Gold had been so quiet in the car on the way over, too quiet and thoughtful, and it made Belle just a little nervous. She played it pretty cool, like a nervous virgin on a date more than the grifter afraid of being caught. It ought to work, if she could just get back inside Gold’s head and figure out what on earth he was thinking.

“I’m sorry,” he apologised, putting his eyes back to his own menu, without an idea of what he would order in such a place as this – it was hardly his usual style.

Belle took her turn at observing him over her own menu then, getting an idea. She needed to get this con back on track, and having Gold fall for her was only a part of that. Getting him talking, finding his weak spots, that was another avenue to be explored. This might be the best opportunity she ever got and she didn’t have to feel bad about it. If she could dig up no real dirt, she would prove to herself he really didn’t deserve conning, get his trust, maybe even get him on-side to turn things around on Regina. It was for his own good as much as hers, at least that was what Belle told herself, right before the waitress came over to take their order. Two hamburgers with fries and soda were duly noted down and would be with them shortly apparently.

“I’m sure this isn’t what you’re used to,” said Belle as soon as the waitress was gone. “A diner like this must be the last place you’d usually choose to eat.”

“Perhaps,” he agreed. “But that is not to say I won’t like it now I’m here.”

Belle smiled brightly at his apparent enthusiasm.

“I hope you will,” she replied easily. “I picture you more as a posh restaurant type though. Do you go out to eat a lot?” she asked conversationally, already pretty sure of the answer.

It was no surprise when he said no. She had been told by Ruby and the others girls in the office how Gold was not really a social animal. Though he could afford swanky nights out, he hardly ever seemed to go on them, just holing up in his apartment or town house alone. It was sad to Belle that any person, good or bad, would not want to share their life, but then she also knew that Gold did share his wealth and his world once upon a time.

“I really haven’t been much for regular eating out since my wife and I... well, it was a long time ago,” he said then, once again looking down.

He did that every time he talked about the past. It made Belle wonder what skeletons lived in his closet, if any evil he had done was long ago at the start of his business perhaps. Maybe Regina knew something about that, or suspected. The other half of Belle was inclined to believe Gold had his heart broken by this wife of his, and that was what made him seem so cold, so angry. There was only one way to find out.

“I admit, I knew you had a wife, and a son too,” she told him then. “I’m afraid all people are gossiped about in an office, from the boss at the top to the drudges at the bottom,” she sighed. “I should like to know the truth about you though, from the source, as it were... or am I being too nosy?” she laughed lightly at her own gall, but Gold didn’t seem annoyed at all.

“Not much to tell really,” he shrugged easily. “I was married, but my wife was... well, Milah was unfaithful. She left myself and Baelfire when he was still small, and since then she died,” he finished rather more quickly than he had begun, clearing his throat and shifting awkwardly under Belle’s gaze. “In any case, such things are not important now.”

“I’m sorry,” she sympathised with his pain and loss, letting her hand find his on the table. “That must have been difficult for you, being left alone to raise your son, but... well, he’s still out there in the world somewhere, right? Do you see him?”

“Not for several years now,” said Gold with a sad smile. “Bae was always a very headstrong boy. A good soul but... but where we lived in Scotland was too remote, too lonely, and I worked a great deal. In part, I believe he blamed me for his mother’s going, and perhaps he was right to. In any case, he wanted to see the world and so he left just as soon as he could.”

Belle felt sick. Gold’s tale was sad to tell and to hear but she might’ve borne it better if she could make it a lie. He seemed genuine and serious in all his looks, plus so very deeply sad and pained. Nobody was this good of an actor, Belle was certain of it, and she had known the very best. Hell, she was one of the very best, and to her Gold was being completely real in this moment. His wife really had left him and since died, then his son had abandoned him too. Perhaps at least some of it was his own fault, there was no real way to know, but even if that were the case, he clearly felt sorry for it. It was enough to break Belle’s heart if she let it.

“You are a good girl, Belle,” Gold said then, turning his hand over on the table to clasp her own. “Too good perhaps to be lending an ear to a man like me.”

“I’m hardly a girl, Mr Gold,” she smiled, squeezing his hand. “I shall admit to being a little younger than you, but I am a woman of the world.”

Perhaps it was the words, or just the way she said them. Maybe it was the way she was gripping his hand and staring into his eyes, but Gold would’ve sworn he couldn’t breathe for a moment. It was both a blessing and a curse when the waitress suddenly appeared with their food and broke the magic spell that seemed to have settled all around them. Without question this was one of the strangest nights of Robert Gold’s life, and yet he would not change it for the world.

* * *

The night wore on in much the same way as it had begun when they first stepped into the diner. Their time at the ball was all but forgotten as Belle showed interest in the real Robert Gold and he duly revealed all that she wished to know. Perhaps that made him a fool, but honestly, he hardly knew he was being so open until he was in the middle of divulging everything. Belle was just so easy to talk to, so understanding and sweet. Besides, Gold reasoned, there was little he was really saying that a determined person couldn’t find. His enemies would research him completely to find some flaw, some loophole they might exploit. Not only could Belle never be accused of being such a person, Gold thought, but more than that, he could not see her being capable of using anything he said here to her advantage, not even to look clever in front of her work-mates. She must genuinely care, he supposed, though it was such a long time since anyone, especially a woman, had ever paid him any mind in such a way, Gold could scarce understand it.

“And what about you, dearie?” he had said when he realised perhaps a little too much of his own past had been revealed. “I feel I know so little in comparison to what I have told you. Where does Isabelle Hart come from? What is she truly like?” he asked with a smile.

She had smiled back sweetly and assured him there was not much of interest to share. Nevertheless, she had begun to spill out information he might find interesting. As she always did, Belle pulled on stories she knew well, based in truth more often than not, or built upon well-practised lies from her other characters. She had a terrific memory for stories and it helped a lot in her work as a grifter. Keeping her characters straight was vital or she risked landing herself in very hot water.

Honestly, Belle found herself being just a little more free with the truth than she meant to be, especially when prompted to discuss tales from her younger days, her childhood and family. Mr Gold, or Robert, as he insisted she call him tonight, listened intently, smiling at her jokes and sympathising with her pain. It was so real, so without pretensions or trickery, Belle got quite lost in some of the moments that passed between them. She could completely imagine herself to be a young woman out on a date with a charming man, just falling in love. It was so difficult to make herself remember that was not the truth at all, especially when he was being such a gentleman. Gold insisted on paying for their food, opened the diner door to let Belle out, and again at the car to allow her in.

Driving home, it seemed like a perfect night. Though it was completely dark now, the moon was full and bright above them, the breeze cool but pleasant as it rushed by. Belle was happily fed, comfortable in her leather seat, and content to hum along to the music the radio provided without hardly realising she was doing it.

Gold tried not to smile too much as he glanced sideways at his companion. She was as beautiful now as when he picked her up from her apartment hours before, perhaps even more so. He knew her better now than ever before, and he liked her all the better for it. Belle was not just beautiful on the outside, but on the inside where it counted. That ought to be one more reason for him to back off, one more way in which they were so different, so at odds with each other. On the contrary, it made him want her more, however wrong he knew the attraction had to be. She could never feel the same, he was sure of it, and yet she seemed to be encouraging him.

Gold almost laughed at himself as he realised how stupid he was being. He had been single and alone far too long, he had started to read things into signs that were barely there. Belle was here tonight to attend a ball the like of which she had never seen before. They left because she was uncomfortable and came to the diner because she was hungry. She showed an interest in him because any person given a chance to cross-examine the boss was always going to take it. True, she was friendly and sweet enough, but surely Belle was like that with everyone. Gold must not allow himself to believe she was in any way interested in him romantically, or perish the thought sexually. He may be the rich and powerful one out of the two of them, but Belle was very much out of his league in every other way.

It was strange how Belle felt startled when the car stopped outside the apartment block where she lived. She had hardly noticed they were there, she was just so comfortable and content. Plus her mind had been wandering back over the events of the evening, not the details that might matter to some, but everything that had to do with Gold, the things he had said, the significant looks he had given her. The dance they shared sprang to mind, his compliments on her dress, her looks, and her manners, and the way he looked at her as he divulged the truth of his wife and son’s fates. If she hadn’t been sure before that she was playing an innocent man in this con, she was now.

Gold opened the car door and Belle eased herself out, with thanks to him for his unwavering gentlemanly ways, and for the evening as a whole.

“It was my pleasure, Belle,” he told her, the two of them stood facing each other on the pavement now.

They were oddly close now that Belle thought about it, but she wasn’t going to move, even if being this far into Gold’s personal space was giving her the shakes. She was a professional, she ought to be able to control herself, and yet within touching distance of those hands that had held her so firmly when they danced, it made her swallow hard and quite forget herself.

On his part, Robert Gold wasn’t sure which way to turn, and found nothing suited him in this moment but to stand and stare at the wonder that was Belle. When friends parted from an evenings shared company they shook hands. With family there were hugs, perhaps a kiss on the cheek. Couples parted with longing to stay, lingering kisses, and such that he dare not contemplate. There were no people like himself and Belle, odd as they were in their relationship. He was her employer, and yet he did not look upon her as simply one of his administration staff. She was so very much more, and this had been more of a date than anything, despite the fact he would not dare to label it as such.

“Goodnight, Robert,” she said softly, his given name from her lips still a surprise even though it was invited.

Thoughts ran unbidden through Gold’s head when Belle’s fingers brushed his shoulder. Just a little contact and his name spoken in such a whisper had him imaging all kinds of ends to this night that he knew could never be, and yet the pictures danced in glorious Technicolor inside his mind. He swallowed hard.

“Goodnight, Belle,” he made himself reply, leaning in a little closer.

He was going to kiss her, and they both knew it. Belle was ready for the moment, almost allowing her eyes to fall shut as she prepared for contact, but at the last she knew she could not bear it. In a flash, she turned away and ran, straight in through the door and up the stairs like a startled animal, leaving Gold alone to wonder what on Earth just happened.

Upstairs, Belle reached her own apartment and rushed inside. Immediately, she slammed the door shut and put her back to it, trying in vain to catch her breath. She ached with a want for Gold to kiss her, and they had come so close. She just couldn’t allow it to happen, not like this, not when she was playing him so cruelly. He would be imparting a kiss of love. She could see it stirring in his deep soulful eyes, and it struck her like a bolt through her heart. Belle could not return it, not when her whole existence in his life was a lie, even if she did know there would be love on her side of that kiss too.

“You stupid girl!” she cursed herself, slamming a fist back against the door so hard her every digit stung.

Sinking down to the floor, Belle hugged her knees into her chest, feeling sick. Everything was ruined. Gold was falling in love with her, just as planned, but at the same time she had started to fall for him too, and now it was too late. She cared far too much to complete the job, and if she told the truth she dreaded what she really stood to lose.

Finally, Belle allowed herself to do something she had not genuinely indulged in for years; she cried like her heart would break. In all honesty, that was how it felt inside right now, and she could see no way out of this awful mess.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay in posting this next chapter. I got distracted plus my beta was away, but I'm back now and ready for lots of Rumbelle writing - yup, I have now seen all of Season 2 and I'm completely OUAT energised! lol

The weekend felt long and Belle wished she could escape the torment of it. Being alone with only her thoughts was not helping at all, and even in sleep, Robert Gold invaded her mind. If he had only turned out to be the bad guy in all this. That was supposed to be his role, after all, but no, Regina had embellished the truth into something wicked. It actually seemed Gold’s only real crimes were being rich and powerful. He wasn’t a saint, of course. As with most men in his position, he had doubtless performed the odd ‘dodgy deal’ to get him where he was today, but probably nothing of any consequence. The richest of men screwed each other over, and Belle couldn’t find it in her to care. These kind of people could afford minor losses, and she had caused a few in her time. So far she could see Gold being guilty of nothing more or less than she herself could be accused of in her darker past. He was not a monster, but a man. More than that, he was the man she was far too easily falling in love with.

Belle still couldn’t imagine how such a thing could have happened. Her history with men was rocky at best. Her first serious relationship had been her last in a lot of ways. Gaston Rose was perfectly good-looking and nice enough to her in the beginning. She had been sort of smitten, truth be told, and her father had liked him a lot. Sweet little Belinda French would do anything to please her Papa, and it had seemed ideal that she should fall in love with a man he liked so much, who worked hard for him and was always polite and kind. Everything should have worked out perfectly, but life was not a fairytale and Belle learnt that the hard way.

It was when her father was first taken ill. His heart wasn’t what it used to be and the first attack really knocked him for six. The doctors were confident of a full recovery, but in the meantime, Gaston was left to run the business alongside Belle. She was seventeen, but she was smart, and her father had taught her very well. Still, Gaston would not hear of her assisting and took everything upon himself. The business almost went under in his hands and whenever Belle tried to intervene he spoke down to her like a backward child.

The whole situation had resulted in Belle’s very first con. Pulling such tricks against Gaston was risky but she was so very proud of herself when she managed to prove to her father that his apprentice was completely incompetent in business, even if she had embellished quite a bit. She’d had nothing to lose by then. Belle had already figured out that Gaston was cheating on her, and all this whilst continually trying to control her. It was too much and the relationship was soon severed forever.

The thrill of the con was what got Belle through the break up. Though she had been glad to be rid of her ex in many ways, she felt a little lost and alone without him by her side. They had been friends for years and then a couple. Then there was a gap where he used to be and she filled it with petty crime, not just because she loved the thrill but for a real reason too - dear Papa.

Though they kept the business afloat, Belle’s father was not doing well with his health by then. One heart attack became two and three. He couldn’t work hardly at all and the staff started taking advantage. Belle had to supplement their income somehow and there was no way for a girl of not-quite eighteen to get a decent paying job - she wasn’t even out of high school then! Petty crimes got bigger, cons that she just seemed to have a knack for, and then one day, she got caught.

When her father came to pay her bail and bring her home, Belle was so ashamed. He asked her if she had ever done such a thing before and Belle found herself confessing all in tears and sorrow. It didn’t help. With his ailing health, a nurse that was clearly angling to be the second Mrs French, and now Belle in trouble, her father just could not take anymore. He sent her away and for the sake of keeping the peace, Belle left. She kept tabs on her dear Papa, and by some miracle he was still alive to this day, though she had never seen him again. She sent money to pay medical bills she knew he struggled with, quiet donations that he would never know the source of. Belle thought of her father now and forced herself not to shed anymore tears. She had loved no man since her dear Papa and the treacherous Gaston, not until now.

Dating was fun, especially on cons. Belle could be whoever she wanted to be, and charm almost any man she chose. Just flirting was delicious when she felt like it, and she had been on a few dates, shared a few nights. None of it really meant anything, in her line of work it couldn’t afford to. Seeing Mary and David fall in love, it proved how awkward things could get, how much a romantic relationship could ruin a perfectly good team. Belle couldn’t blame them, since she knew it was impossible to control who you fall in love with. If you could, she certainly wouldn’t have chosen Robert Gold.

You never fall for the mark, it was rule number one. Belle had only ever been tempted once before and that wasn’t entirely her fault. Philip Prince had been quite the charmer and it had been a long con. If he had tried to sweep her off her feet, she might’ve let him, but he was already in love and engaged to be married. She wouldn’t spoil that, especially not when her task was simply to distract the guy whilst the main mark was slowly destroyed. Philip wasn’t a bad guy, not really, as it seemed Gold was not.

Belle put her hands over her face a moment and tried to force away the building headache. She hated the situation she had got herself into and wished she could just run away right now, but it was all too late. To tell Regina she was dropping out of the con put those she loved most in danger. To tell Gold everything meant risking herself and others, plus her already aching heart when she was unsure how either of them truly felt yet. To simply run... the consequences became double and worse.

In this particular predicament, there wasn’t even anyone Belle could call or turn to in the hopes of talking it thorough. She wished Mary and David hadn’t gone away, that she could still contact any member of her team in safety. That was the point when she recalled a presence at Friday night’s charity ball that she’d sooner forget.

“August,” she said to herself, wondering what he was doing here, what exactly his part of the con entailed.

Regina clearly thought Belle wasn’t working fast enough on Gold and had sent in an old member of her crew as reinforcement. August was getting paid a pretty penny, she had no doubt, or perhaps Regina had threatened him too. Either way, he would have to keep up his end of the bargain or risk losing too much. Now Belle was just left to wonder what part he would play.

“The Lost Heir,” she said too suddenly, sitting up sharply in her seat.

Her brain went into over-drive as she thought about it carefully. It was a basic con, convincing someone that you were the missing piece of the family tree and owed inheritance of some kind. Obviously it was usually pulled simply for the pay off, but Gold had a son he hadn’t not seen in years, and the emotional pay off could be just as great. Regina could be using August to play Baelfire in this nasty little game, whether to gain money or just break Gold with false hope. Either was a cruel trick and made Belle feel sick to her stomach, but what could she do to prevent it without blowing her own cover and ruining everything?

* * *

Robert Gold was out of his depth. It wasn’t a feeling he was used to, especially not lately. These past few years since losing his wife and later his son, Gold put almost all his concentration into his business. He built it up from almost nothing to the all-powerful force it was now. He was the master of all he surveyed, in control, unflappable. All this were true, until Isabelle Hart stepped in through the door. Said door was quickly followed by his life, and now apparently his heart. This was the part where Gold considered himself a genuine fool.

It wouldn’t be so bad if she were age appropriate, if he knew her better, if she wasn’t his employee, for Heaven’s sake! It would also be preferable if he wasn’t in the middle of too many deals and a grudge match against Regina Mills of Regal Corp. There was way too much at stake here, not least Belle’s reputation that had already taken a knock on the night of the ball. To think that after all that he had driven her home and actually considered kissing her. Gold was moments away from slamming his head against the nearest brick wall at his own stupidity just thinking about it now, more than forty eight hours later.

Monday morning meant heading to his office and working, alongside the very woman who haunted his dreams, and even filled his mind in waking hours now. Belle was beautiful, on the outside obviously, but also inside where it truly counted. She was an old soul in many ways, traditional and sweet. Somehow at the same time she was modern and forward-thinking, glad for her independence, proud of all she was and could be. Gold found her to be the greatest of enigmas and the most incredible woman he ever met in his life. Put plainly, he had fallen in love with her, and for that reason he was surely doomed.

The way she bolted when he moved to kiss her ought to prove she was disgusted by the very idea of such a thing. What a dirty old man he must seem to her now, after so many assurances that he was nothing of the kind. Gold was thoroughly ashamed of himself, and panicking just a little inside that he was about to be subjected to punishment for his minor crime. At best he expected Belle would be ignoring his work requests and sneezing in his coffee. At worst, well, he was probably looking at a sexual harassment case. Gold just had to hope Belle was actually as sensible and classy as she seemed and would accept a simple apology for his ‘indiscretion’ as it were.

It would help if he got the chance to say he was sorry to Belle, but as the day wore on, Gold found it more and more exasperating to try and get a quiet word with his own assistant! Ruby was on hand at all times, but Belle seemed to be forever caught up in phone calls, meetings, or out running errands. She was only at her desk and available when he was busy himself, and with her avoidance tactics she managed to avoid him completely until almost three in the afternoon. Finally it seemed he had her cornered as she returned from the office kitchen with a tray of coffees for all the girls plus his own usual cup.

“Ruby, would you mind taking Mr Gold his coffee?” she asked her colleague, only to be startled by the voice of her boss himself.

“Perhaps you could bring it in with you, Belle,” he told her, as she glanced up and found him framed in the doorway, hands folded atop his cane.

She opened her mouth to make another excuse, but she already knew she couldn’t do it. Ruby was getting suspicious about her avoidance of Gold, especially since she and the rest of the girls knew about their ‘date’ last Friday night. If she came up with another reason not to go into his office now, it would look too guilty. She was just going to have to bite the bullet it seemed.

“Yes, Mr Gold,” she forced a smile, and just a soon as all the girls in the office had their drinks, she brought Gold’s cup and followed him into the office.

He was the one to close the door behind her and then stayed there so she had no escape route. With other marks in past cons, Belle would have started to panic now, but Gold wasn’t scary. He was in fact the complete opposite of that, and honestly, she’d like to be that much closer to him than she was now, if only it were possible. In these circumstances, it just wasn’t.

“I think you and I need to have a little talk, dearie,” he said, gesturing for her to sit down.

Belle declined the offer, though she did not try to leave either. In fact she nodded in agreement that they actually did need to discuss what happened. It was never going to be an easy conversation, and that were true even from Gold’s point of view, in which she was exactly the person she appeared. It was doubly awkward for Belle herself - for once in her life, the grifter was struggling to keep her character in check.

“I am sorry, Mr Gold... Robert,” she said awkwardly, fidgeting nervously without even thinking about it. “I know it was silly of me to run away when you took me home, I was just...”

“You have nothing to apologise for, Belle,” he told her gently, looking as if he wanted to reach out to her but not daring too in the circumstances. “I was the one at fault. I’m afraid between your beauty and your kindness, I simply forgot myself.”

“You flatter me, Mr Gold,” she told him, ducking her face behind her hair. “I don’t deserve it.”

That part was at least true, Belle thought. If he only knew what she really was.

“You do,” he said with a brief smile before he was serious again. “Still, that is not the point. Please say you accept my apology, Belle, and then we can go back to being friends, aye?

He was so honest and sincere, so genuinely concerned that he had offended her. It was all Belle could do not to cry, but years of experience in acting a part helped her hold it together. She forced a smile.

“Of course,” she assured him. “I’d like that very much.”

Saying that was ruining the con and she knew it. Gold was falling in love with her, utterly and completely, as was the plan, and now she was letting him back-pedal to ‘just good friends’. She couldn’t allow that to happen, and yet her own conscience forbid Belle from carrying on the charade.

“Robert, I...” she began, only to be interrupted by a tapping on the door.

As Gold was right there, he turned sharply to open it, almost causing Ruby to come stumbling in on top of him.

“Yes, Ruby?” he snapped at her, not at all happy at being interrupted.

“I’m sorry, sir, but there’s a gentleman here to see you,” she tried to explain as quickly as possible “He doesn’t have an appointment but... Hey!”

She was suddenly gone from view and in her place a man strode right into the office, squeezing past Gold and shooting a significant glance at Belle. In that moment her blood ran cold. August was here, and any plan she might have been making before or even here and now on the fly was about to go up in smoke, she just knew it.

“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Gold, anger rising, as he slammed the office door shut, almost on Ruby’s nose in fact!

“Well, I’m here to see you,” August smiled amiably, looking towards Gold with a wide smile. “What? You don’t recognise me?” he checked.

Belle watched Gold watching August and fought the urge to be sick. This was horrible and cruel, and she could just prevent it if she only opened her mouth now. Her voice just stuck in her throat, thoughts of all the horrors those she loved would endure if she broke her deal with Regina. It was all just unbearable.

“I do remember,” said Gold eventually, a frown on his face as he stared hard at August’s face. “You were at the ball. You danced with Miss Hart,” he said, gesturing vaguely towards Belle with one hand though his eyes never left August.

“I did,” the supposed stranger nodded once. “But I meant, you don’t recognise me from before?” he smiled again then, as Belle grabbed the corner of the desk for support. “Of course, I have grown up quite a bit since then,” August noted as he held Gold’s gaze and delivered the final blow. “Don’t you think so, Papa?”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback & kudos are making me so happy, especially now as he head into the mid-point of the story (at least, that's the plan! lol) Thanks all for the support :)

Belle felt sick to her stomach. Though she had begun to feel increasingly uncomfortable in her conning of Robert Gold, today was without question the very worst day of it all. She hadn’t thought anything could top the moment when she ran out on him the moment he moved in for a first kiss, but this was most definitely worse. Standing in his office now, eyes fixed on Gold, as her own ex-team-mate, August, declared he was the prodigal son returned, it was horrifying. Belle wanted nothing more than to confess the truth, or at the very least to bring comfort to the shocked man she called both boss and friend. Instead she just stood rooted to the spot, unsure what she was really supposed to say for the best.

“This is a trick,” said Gold, after a good five minutes of awful silence. “You’re not my son,” he shook his head definitely, and yet he could see the resemblance.

Belle knew August hadn’t really changed his appearance much. The stubble on his face was new, he was usually more frequent with a razor, but that would hide the features that might prove he was not Baelfire. These were the oldest tricks in the book. Bulky clothes to hide the body shape too, and he was already onto a winner with the right colour hair and eyes. It could be enough to fool a desperate man, and Belle was already certain Gold was indeed desperate to find his son. If he had a weakness at all this was it, and she knew without question why it was being exploited.

Regina didn’t think Belle was getting results fast enough, but they must all realise that Gold would only buy this trick for so long. There wasn’t all that much information available on Baelfire. Belle was sure she knew more than Regina or August could ever have gleaned after her long talk with Robert at the diner Friday night. August was going to slip up, and it was then that Belle realised, his getting busted was actually all part of the horrible plan.

“Papa, I can’t believe you don’t know me,” he said in earnest, every inch the lost little boy.

He had to be doing this under duress. August wasn’t a cruel man. Misguided perhaps, and yes, a criminal as Belle had been, but not this bad. Regina was working him like a puppet on strings, manipulating him with threats just the same as she was doing with Belle herself. It was sick.

“You can see why he might doubt you,” she said, casting a significant look at August.

She seemed to get Gold’s attention too, though she hadn’t intended it. He looked almost afraid of what was happening here, more overwhelmed than Belle had ever seen him. She took pity on him, not caring what it meant for the con or the future right now. She immediately moved to his side and took hold of his arm.

“Mr Gold, would you like me to call security?” she asked him, paying no mind to August, though she knew he was staring at her now.

“What? No,” he said definitely, shaking his head.

Gold’s eyes looked passed her, almost through her, to stare at the man that would profess to be his son. In August he saw Baelfire, because it was what he wanted to see. Belle knew that was why it was so easy, and she hated it. She so wanted Robert to be smarter than that, but she couldn’t blame him for one small piece of naivety in amongst all of his wit and intelligence.

“Robert, please,” she urged him to focus on her and Belle found a small smile when he managed to do so. “I want to help you. Please, let me do that.”

He nodded then, stood straight on shaky legs, leaning heavily on his cane. August looked too clever, too much like he was hiding amusement. Belle wanted to slap his face, and honestly, it wouldn’t be the first time if she did. They got along well enough on the team back in the day, but he could be so infuriating sometimes. Perhaps some things just didn’t change,

“Belle, go tell the ladies they can leave early… please,” he added as an after-thought to what sounded vaguely like an order.

“You want me to leave too?” she asked as she headed for the door, hoping she was wrong for so many reasons that he would never understand.

“I’d rather you stayed. An objective point of view might be needed when I question this young man on his true identity,” he said, eyes returning to meet August’s own.

Perhaps Gold wasn’t completely naive, even where his son was concerned, Belle realised. He wasn’t just going to take August’s word for it, even if it was clear that he was sorely tempted. Belle slipped out of the office, telling Ruby, Astrid, and Kathryn they should all head home. Of course they had questions, who this man really was and why he was here. Ruby told Belle he had given the name Wayne Wood, but somehow she didn’t believe him. Belle would answer no questions, just made a big deal of ushering the other women out. She was alienating the staff she had befriended now, not just by putting herself closer to Gold but by being so evasive and secretive too. It had to be this way, both for the con and because Belle knew she was too far into falling in love with Robert to make a clean break anyway. This whole situation was far beyond the mess she always suspected it would turn into, and somehow it seemed to be getting worse with every turn.

* * *

Immediately when they reached the apartment upstairs, August had started playing games. Asking Robert how he was, if he still suffered much with his ankle, how he was finding the move from Scotland. Belle knew he hadn’t hit his stride yet. Most of what he was saying were simple things that any good grifter could identify on just meeting Gold, and Belle already knew that August would have the same facts and figures that she had been given by Regina. She wondered what else he had up his sleeve for when the questions really started flying, or if the point was that he had nothing at all.

They were sat across from each other now, Robert in his arm chair, ‘Baelfire’ on the couch opposite. Belle hovered awkwardly a moment and then offered to go and make some tea. Her ears were good but had their limits. She could hear a conversation from the kitchen, but not much of what was actually said. This was a complete nightmare, and Belle so wanted to run. She knew she had no good choices here, that the only option left open to her was to play along with August’s cruel game. Not that she could blame him, only Regina Mills was truly at fault. Belle got so frustrated in her anger towards that evil woman, she almost broke a fragile china cup in her overly tight grip. When she looked down, Belle found a small smile. This was the same cup she had dropped when she was here before and left a tiny chip in the rim. Gold hadn’t cared, he had looked upon her with such kindness as she never thought to see from a man like him. That was the first moment when Belle realised he was so far removed from the monster Regina had painted, that the rumours swore existed in him. Robert Gold was very much human and she hated that her only options were to destroy him or lose everything else.

Finishing putting all the tea things together on the tray, Belle forced a deep breath through her lungs and stepped back out into the living room. The atmosphere was awkward at best and Belle felt she was only adding to it, through no fault of her own, or maybe it was all her fault in a way, she really wasn’t sure anymore. Concentrating on pouring the tea seemed sensible enough and crouched on the floor seemed the only place to do it. Her other options were on the couch with August or on the arm of Gold’s chair, neither of which seemed appropriate at all. She knew both men were watching her to save from having to look at each other. The tension was just awful.

“Sugar?” she asked August without saying any name at all.

“No, thanks,” he shook his head and smiled. “I’m already sweet enough... as Mother used to say.”

Belle winced at that. She knew he had been watching Gold out of the corner of his eye whilst he said it, noticed some near-imperceptible twitch or intake of breath of recognition at the phrase. It was common enough, but his reaction meant August could play on it and assume it was something Gold’s late wife used to say. A little more evidence for the pot. Belle cleared her throat and bit down a comment, handing a cup to August and then another to Gold.

“Thank you, dear,” he said, meeting her eyes.

Belle had a feeling he meant for far more than just the tea. Just for being here, she supposed, when he needed a friend. Some friend she was, but he could have no idea about that right now.

“So, you’ve been gone from Mr Gold’s life some time,” said Belle without a care, knowing it was not her place to speak and yet unable to help herself. “If you are who you say.”

She stood by Gold’s chair now, leaning on the back a little. Belle knew she was coming off like his guard dog or keeper but she couldn’t care. She was going to have this cruel trick over with as quickly as possible. Towering over August like this wouldn’t phase him, not for a second, but she would use every weapon in her arsenal to protect Gold’s heart right now.

“Belle, it’s really not Bae’s fault,” he told her softly. “I don’t blame him for leaving. I was not the father I should’ve been.”

“I don’t suppose I was the ideal son either,” said August, staring into his tea as he placed the cup down on the table. “It was wrong of me to run away, Papa, but I so wanted to see the world. Can you understand that?”

He looked so earnest, so twisted up with pain and sorrow. Belle had to hand it to the guy, it was an Oscar worthy performance, and it certainly wasn’t Gold’s fault he was falling for it. Still, there was no hard evidence that this man was his son, for the very simple reason that he wasn’t!

“Any man could say these things,” she cut in before Gold could say a word. “You’ve given no proof that you are who you say you are!”

“Belle!” Gold’s tone was admonishing when he spoke her name, but August only smiled.

“No, Papa, she’s right,” he shook his head. “She’s just trying to look out for you, and I appreciate that somebody is here to do that, after the way I abandoned you...” he said, looking sad. “I hope you can forgive me, and that this is some proof of who I am,” he continued, fumbling in an inside pocket of his leather jacket.

A moment later he was handing a locket to Gold, whose eyes narrowed at the sight of it and Belle’s followed suit. It meant something, she could tell by the hitch of Gold’s breath in his throat and the way his hands shook as he opened up the locket to reveal pictures inside. One was of a woman, the other a child. If she had to guess, Belle would certainly say she was looking down into the young faces of Milah and Baelfire.

“Oh, my boy,” gasped Gold as he looked from the pictures to August. “You truly have come back to me.”

He was up out of the chair so fast, Belle was amazed by how easily he did it given the state of his ankle and all. She watched as Gold embraced ‘Baelfire’ and called him his darling boy, feeling sick when August met her eyes over Robert’s shoulder. She didn’t know where he got the locket or the pictures, how he had managed to dupe Gold so thoroughly. She had no defence now, no way to try and prove August was anyone but Baelfire, unless she revealed the whole truth about herself as well.

It was a risk Belle could not take, and she knew it. To reveal all was to put those dearest to her in danger - her own father, Mary, David, baby Emma - and anyone Regina had threatened in order to drag August into this too. On top of that, she would blow the con from all angles, losing the one chance she might have to bring Ms Mills house of cards down around her own ears. Worst of all, Robert Gold would look upon her with absolute hatred, pure disdain. She would lose his trust and ever-building love, and at this point, that might just break Belle’s own heart completely into pieces. She was stuck with no way out, it seemed, and she hated it.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep dropping the ball on this fic lately. So sorry, reader peops! I will try to update more often from now on :)

Belle had been hoping this whole time that Gold would leave the room eventually. He and ‘Baelfire’got talking about old times, and it hadn’t taken much for her to convince him he should go find the photo albums and show her how things had been back then. Just as soon as Belle was sure he was out of ear-shot, she sat down beside August and her eyes turned cold as steel.

“What are you doing?!” she asked in a harsh whisper, mindful of shouting and being overheard.

“Same thing you are, only better?” August smirked annoyingly as he leaned back against the couch cushions with his hands behind his head. “What’s so wrong, Belle? I’m playing a part just the same as you. Part of the job.”

“You’re being cruel!” she snapped at him, eliciting a laugh she didn’t much care for.

“And you’re, what? Genuine in your affection for the old guy?” he asked incredulously. “No, you’re working for Regina, just like me,” August stated what he already knew to be true. “She threatened you, she threatened me, and that’s why we’re both here.”

There was a flicker of something genuine in August’s eyes when he met Belle’s gaze then. She knew why he was doing this, and it wasn’t really his fault. If Regina had got to him, and he had just confirmed that was true, Belle knew exactly who she was threatening to exploit. August was such a loner, even more so than Belle had ever been, but he loved his father, more than anything in the whole world.

“She knows about Marco,” she said, a statement not a question. “That’s what she’s holding over you. Your father’s life.”

“He’s an old man now,” August sighed and shook his head. “If she so much as told him how I’ve been living my life... it would kill him. I genuinely believe that it would.”

Belle swallowed hard, trying not to let his words get to her. Unfortunately, it was too late. This kind of talk, it made her think of her own Papa. How fragile he had been when she last saw him, how he had reacted to what her life had become. Now they were better, her and August both, or they had been for a while. Taking down rich and powerful bad guys, playing Robin Hood for those that couldn’t help themselves. These were things to be proud of, Belle thought, righting the wrongs she had done in the past perhaps. Now her eyes drifted to the door through which Gold had just passed. This man may be powerful but he wasn’t wholly bad. There was good in him, so much more than she ever could’ve imagined, and it hurt so much to know what she and August were doing to him.

“This is wrong,” she said aloud, not particularly to August or even to herself, and yet her old team-mate replied.

“Wrong?” he echoed. “Belle, you’re not...?”

His question went unasked and yet not unanswered. She looked back at him, and as their eyes met he saw the truth of this situation. Suddenly August knew what Belle was trying so hard to hide, even from herself. Her true feelings for Gold ran deep, though he couldn’t imagine why. Clearly he wasn’t the monster Regina painted, or dear little Belle never would’ve fallen.

“Here we are,” said Gold himself as he returned to the room, an album of pictures under his arm.

August was still staring at Belle for a moment, but quickly regained focus with a smile on his lips. He didn’t really know what to do with the shock he felt at his old friend’s revelation, but he had to cover it and move on. Regardless of Belle’s feelings for Gold, or even his for her, August was here with one task to complete. If he didn’t follow through... well, he just had to. He meant what he said to Belle about his real father. His doing Regina’s bidding was purely to keep Marco safe, she had to understand that. They were both protecting somebody, but at the same time destroying another.

Belle did know why she had to let this go, why she had no way out of her current situation. As if realising she was in love with the mark wasn’t bad enough. Now she knew August was playing him and that whether she let him continue or not, Regina’s plan could not fail. If today ended with Robert still believing that August was Baelfire, then the leverage belonged with his fake son. If the truth came out, and August was sent away, Belle would be there for the man she loved, and Regina knew it, even if the evil bitch did believe said love was entirely fake.

Unable to stand it a moment longer, Belle swept out of the room a moment after Gold returned. She could not bare to just sit there are listen as August began talking to his ‘Papa’ about all the precious years they’d wasted. Belle took the tea tray with her as she hurried off to the kitchen, hoping to compose herself as she cleaned the cups and refilled the pot. The last thing she ever expected was for Gold to follow her.

“Belle?” he spoke her name and actually made her jump.

She turned sharply to glance at him, cursing the lone tear that streaked down her cheek. Belle hadn’t meant to cry, she truly hadn’t, but all the talk of family was enough to upset her. That coupled with knowing the awful pain she and August couldn’t help but cause here, it was too much, even for a seasoned grifter like herself.

“Robert, I’m so sorry,” she apologised, quickly wiping her face and turning back to her tea making.

The surprise of his presence so suddenly close behind her made Belle’s hands freeze on the cups. There was such a confused mess of feelings inside of her right now. She yearned to tell him everything, to confess both her ever-building love for him and the truth of her mission here, even though she knew the outcome of such a thing would be catastrophic. At the same time, she just wanted to hold onto him, and be held. To feel strong arms around her and his lips upon hers, as she had conjured in her dreams too many times. She was such a fool.

“Belle, please,” he said, his voice low and quiet as his hand landed on her arms. “Talk to me, dear. You’re not yourself...”

“I am more worried about him not being himself!” she all but exploded as she turned quickly to face him, dropping her voice to a more reasonable level the moment she realised how much she had startled him. “I’m sorry, Robert, I know you believe that man is your son, because you want to believe he came back to you, but are you really so sure?”

“He has the locket,” he told her with a slight frown.

Belle had to wonder if his confusion was really because of her disbelief, or because he was already starting to wonder at his own naiveté.

“What does the locket really prove?” she asked, trying to make him see the truth, even if she knew it would do no real good. “There are people that do this kind of thing. Lie and cheat their way into people’s lives, like emotional blackmail,” she explained. “You’re a rich man, Robert. Powerful and well-known enough. I just... I don’t want to see you taken advantage of.”

Belle wasn’t sure what to think about the way he was looking at her now. It was a dangerous path she was walking, telling him about grifters and thieves just like herself. Still, Robert could surely not suspect her, only August, as she suggested to him. It did no good in the long run, but standing by and watching him be deceived by her old friend was causing physical pain in Belle’s heart. If she could at least minimise his suffering, end this awful charade before they all got in any deeper, that was a small comfort to her battered conscience.

“You know a lot about this kind of thing, Belle,” said Robert, that intense look he got in his eyes sometimes radiating full force as he stared at her.

“I read the newspapers, watch TV,” she shrugged, holding his gaze with determination. “These kinds of things happen all the time. Unsuspecting rich men, and women too, falling prey to thieves. You wouldn’t be the first victim of this kind of scam.”

Robert kept staring her way a while longer, before glancing over his shoulder back into the room where August waited. He knew she was right, of course he knew. Robert Gold was a learned man, and he was well aware that his fame and fortune made him prey for these kinds of people. He never had been duped before, always staying one step ahead of such games, especially where that ghastly Regina Mills was concerned. The one thing guaranteed to turn his head and make him trust without evidence was the return of his beloved son. Maybe he had been blinded by a fake Baelfire, and yet believing that meant the boy-turned-man was still so very far away from his grasp.

“For once in my life, I’m afraid I’m not sure what to do for the best,” he admitted to Belle, feeling almost stupid for even saying it.

She hated how vulnerable he looked, how confused he must feel. Belle only wanted to make this easier on a man she knew by now she loved, despite how ridiculous the very fact had to be. The only thing to do was to get August out of here as fast as possible, to have the truth reveal itself without her actually having to admit anything.

“Ask him something only Baelfire would know,” she advised in a soft tone. “Something that can’t have been researched or learnt from records, a personal thing from your shared past, then you’ll know for sure,” she shrugged.

A smile came to Gold’s lips then, a real genuine look, the like of which he hardly ever wore, save for when he looked at her this way. It gave Belle the shakes in a way she couldn’t dislike at all, even if it did make her guilt double every second.

“Aye, I believe that is exactly what I shall do,” he said eventually, reaching out as if to touch her face but letting his hand fall before he ever made contact. “You’re a good girl, Belle,” he told her, at which her head ducked instinctively.

“No, I’m not,” she immediately argued, though he took her words entirely the wrong way.

“A good woman then,” he amended, daring to raise her chin with his finger. “I’m sorry, I meant no harm,” he assured her as she stared at him with those big blue eyes a man could drown in and such a sad sort of an expression, it was enough to break his cold heart.

She was indeed a good woman, he thought, far too good for the likes of him, so much more than he could ever deserve. At the same time, Belle was wondering at how he could look upon her like this and not see the truth. A part of her almost wished he would.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “But you know I don’t deserve your compliments,” she shook her head, deliberately moving away from his touch and then a step back out of reach completely. “You’ve been so good to me, much more than I deserve. What can I do but try to repay the kindness.”

Belle found her voice was wobbling before she had hardly finished speaking. He made her lose control of her emotions, she had known it from the night of the ball, and now it could only get worse. She had admitted to herself that she loved Gold, and there was no turning back from that. Belle thought she could cope, at least for now, but when August showed up and she realised how ugly things were going to be, even then she held it together. If Robert was going to stand there looking at her as if she were precious, praising her like an angel come to save him, she was never going to be able to survive. The tears building in her eyes again forced her to turn her back on him, but it was too late. He already knew she was crying, and it broke his heart too.

“Please, Belle. Don’t upset yourself, dearie,” he said, his hand barely grazing her arm before she was facing him again, with as much composure as she could muster in such a moment. “Come now,” he urged her. “Let’s try a little test on my potential only son, shall we?” he smiled.

She knew he was trying to be as brave as he looked, but it wasn’t quite coming off. That worked for Belle, since she wasn’t feeling half so composed as she seemed either. It was strange to think that in the living room which contained three people again now, the only innocent man was the one suspected by most to be evil. Oh how wrong they had been about Robert Gold.

Belle sat down primly on the end of the couch, as far from ‘Baelfire’ as she could ever be, whilst Robert returned to his chair. August had the photo album on his lap, flipping pages and smiling.

“Look, Papa,” he grinned. “I’d almost forgotten about that horse you bought me. Good old Samson,” he sighed happily at the memory.

Belle was unimpressed. It wasn’t as if he knew the horses name himself, he had simply read the line in Gold’s flowing hand from beneath the photograph. Still, it seemed he may have given his ‘father’ the perfect in, since Robert was smiling just as widely.

“Aye, he was a good horse, indeed,” he nodded along. “Of course, we were quite ready to send him to the glue factory when he threw you over a fence that day,” he said, complete with some random flick of his hands to demonstrate the way Bae must’ve gone flying. “Tell me, son, does your knee still bother you?” he asked, leaning forward with his elbows on his own knees.

Belle looked between Gold and August, wondering where this was going. In her own mind she wondered at the question. Personally she would have made August recount the event of being thrown off the horse as he remembered it, since surely any inaccuracies would be clear. At the same time, she knew six different ways to get around the question herself if she were asked it, and August would too. As it was he had been given an easy out and he took it.

“It’s not so bad,” he said, running his left hand distinctly over both joints, since he clearly didn’t know which was supposed to hurt.

“Good, good,” Gold nodded along, though there was a hint of the smirk creeping into the previously benevolent smile, the look he only wore when he was working an angle - Belle didn’t mind seeing it in this moment. “I suppose you were lucky in a way. Could’ve been much worse. Honestly, Belle, I never believed a boy could fly until I saw Bae come off that horse.”

“It was quite the tumble I took,” August told her. “Of course, I don’t remember much of it. I suppose it was shock or maybe I blacked out for a while there.”

“Were you badly hurt?” asked Belle, wondering if she knew where this was going, hoping she was helping rather than hindering.

The slightest nod from Gold seemed to prove it was the former rather than the latter. August smiled too widely, looked from Belle to Gold. His mind was working over-time, she could see it. If he screwed up now, saying he had some wound that never existed, or missing something important., it was all over. He used the information he already had and ran with it.

“Well, my knee was the worst,” he told her, eyes flitting to Gold for only a brief second. “I know I said it’s not so bad, but once in a while it’ll flare up. Getting that injury did nothing for my love of horses.”

Belle smiled along politely but the second August glanced back at the album, she looked to Gold for a reaction. His face was becoming increasingly red, and she was sure she never saw him rise from a chair so fast, with the possible exception of when August ‘proved’ he was Baelfire earlier. Now he knew it was lies. This part of the conversation had been set up from the start and she realised it now as Gold towered over August, cane raised as if he might strike him.

“Get out of my building,” he said in such a low voice, Belle was sure he was going to explode any moment.

“Papa?” said August, one last vain hope to look and sound like the lost little boy that Gold loved most - it didn’t work.

“I said get out!” Robert exploded as Belle had suspected he might and she scrambled to her feet more on instinct than anything else. “You are not my son! You are a filthy, cheating liar! Get out!”

August knew the game was up and did not exactly want the cops called, or worse, bruises from cane strikes across his back. He dropped the album on the table and bolted for the door, though before he made it, Gold had threatened so many awful things, Belle was shocked. This was the first time she had seen him so angry and upset, and it brought home to her just how bad things could be if he ever found out she was playing him too. She felt sick all over again, and then doubly so, as the door slammed shut behind August and Robert’s tears broke free.

The anger he had let rip dissolved into great heaving sobs, and Belle could think of nothing to do but grab onto him and let him cry on her shoulder. She was all but supporting his entire weight as he cried like his heart was breaking. It probably was, and there was so very little she could say to make it better. It was a cruel and heartless trick that Regina had pulled here today, and that woman must take all the blame. August went along with this because he felt he had to, to protect those he loved most. That was why Belle was here too, though it was becoming increasingly difficult to convince herself she was doing the right thing, as Gold’s tears soaked through the shoulder of her dress, and still she held on tight to him. What else could she do?


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gap between updates is getting too big on this fic and I apologise. Gonna try harder, I really am!

It had taken the better part of an hour for Gold to calm down after August had left. Belle just held him for a long time and let him cry. She thought she understood the test he had put the fake Baelfire through, but was sure in time he could explain anyway. He needed to grieve first, for the loss of a son who had not quite returned to him. She tried to speak comfort to the man she loved, but it did not come easy. Belle couldn’t offer to call the police and have August dealt with, she just couldn’t do that to her team-mate, and she certainly couldn’t risk her own cover being blown, not right now. To speak words of love would be truthful, but ultimately catastrophic, Belle was certain, and so she could only give him limited kindness. She promised to stay as long as he wanted, assured him it was okay that he was upset, had not made any comment about the way they ended up together in the large armchair that barely fit them both.

“I’m sorry,” he said, hoarse and hurting still as he raised his head to look across at her. “Belle, I didn’t...”

“Hush,” she told him kindly. “You’ve nothing to be sorry for,” she promised. “You were upset. Anyone would be, and we are friends, aren’t we? What sort of friend would leave a person when they were so in need?” she smiled, though the look was forced at best.

Belle extricated herself from the chair then, mumbling something about fetching fresh tea. In the kitchen she tried to get her bearings, whilst in the living room, Gold dried his face and regained his composure. He honestly hadn’t expected to feel such an effect from discovering the mysterious stranger at his door was just that, a stranger. It had been so easy to let himself believe Baelfire had returned to him, however unlikely the situation may be. For too many years he had longed to see his son again, and yet even with his power, money, and connections, he seemed impossible to find.

“Sweet tea,” Belle declared with her usual sunny smile, that brought a similar look to Gold’s face then, in spite of the circumstances. “They say its good for shocks and... well, I can hardly think of another way to describe what happened here,” she said as she handed Gold a cup.

“I believe I shocked you as well, dearie,” he said, staring into his tea a moment. “My outburst must have been quite the surprise, especially when you would not even understand how I came to the sudden realisation of our visitor’s lies.”

“I confess, I was a little confused,” she admitted, sitting herself back on the couch opposite and stirring the sugar into her own tea. “Was it something he said about the horse riding accident? Something that you knew was wrong?” she checked.

“Aye,” Robert nodded. “My Baelfire, he does suffer with his left knee, but that was an accident long after the tumble from the horse,” he explained. “The fall from Samson did him no harm, miraculously. It was after that, some stupid fool of a milkman who ran his float into Bae’s bike,” he said with a bitter, almost hateful edge to his tone. “I was never so angry at anyone as I was that day. I could’ve cut that man down where he stood for hurting my boy,” he said angrily, before a smile came back to his lips unbidden. “My boy Bae, he calmed me down. He said it was all just an accident, no real harm done. Y’see, he didn’t want his dear Papa to be the tyrant he knew I was becoming since his mother left.”

Belle watched the smile dissolve and Gold’s face all but crumble once again. He really had been the victim of circumstance in so many ways. After Milah left him, Robert fought hard to protect all that he had left, his precious Baelfire. That only resulted in the boy feeling smothered and running out himself. It was a sad business, and whilst Gold could be blamed at least partially for his own lonely life, Belle had a tough time believing it was all his fault as some might think.

“I’m so sorry, Robert,” she said, knowing she meant that sincerely for a hundred or more things he would never think to understand, but that was okay.

If he only knew she meant she felt his pain over the loss of his son, both at the time of Baelfire’s leaving and again now, that would be enough for the time being. Belle could not press the point of apologising for any more than that, not unless she were to confess all. That would be far too dangerous.

“What have you to be sorry for, dear?” he asked with a deep sigh. “I’m the one that should be sorry. Sorry to Bae that I didn’t do a better job with him. Sorry for myself that I made such a mess of my life back then. Sorry to you for taking your time and ruining your dress with my unworthy tears...”

“Stop it, please!” she begged of him, her words too harsh and sudden, Belle knew.

She couldn’t help it. Every time he was overly nice to her, it tore at her heart. How long she could keep up this charade now, Belle really wasn’t sure, but she had to try. Being here right now was doing no good. She needed a little distance, a little time to clear her head. Perhaps then she could find a way to play her part in this, to figure out a way of turning the whole con around on Regina. So far, there had been far too much drama to muddle through.

“You really mustn’t put yourself down so much,” she told Robert desperately. “Or put me on such a pedestal.”

“I’m sorry to make you uncomfortable, Belle,” he immediately apologised, and she knew without question that he meant it.

Her outburst had shocked him, but at the same time, he knew her words were a genuine plea. Gold would take it the wrong way and Belle knew it, but she just had to live with that right now. He would imagine she was reinforcing her want for him to be her friend, and nothing more. He believed that his want to kiss her the night of the ball filled her with revulsion, as anyone would suppose when a woman bolted from a man’s arms the way she had. Belle couldn’t imagine ever feeling that way about him now, in fact, she felt the very opposite. If she didn’t already know how much more damage it would do, she would be across the space between them in a second, kissing the very breath from him, being led willingly to his bed if he would take her. Such thoughts did no good, but they were there in her head and refused to leave. Belle just had to get out of here.

“I should leave you in peace,” she said then, standing up quickly before she changed her mind. “You’ll want to be alone to... I should go,” she repeated, hurrying towards the door.

Belle knew Gold would follow her. She also knew she could get out the door, into the elevator, and be gone before he ever caught up, but that seemed too cruel after all he had already been through here today. The least she could do was wish him a good night’s sleep before she left him all alone.

“You have been a great help today, Belle, as you so often are,” he told her, as they stood either side of the apartment door.

“I can only do my best, Mr. Gold,” she told him, deliberately formal in an attempt not to lose control of herself. “I’m just glad it’s enough. Now, please, try to get some rest tonight. The last thing we want is the others in the office knowing anything is wrong. I know how you dislike gossip,” she smiled kindly and then finally turned to go.

“I should call the police, I suppose,” he said, stopping her in her tracks. “But really? Whatever is the point?” he added with an audible sigh.

“I suppose they might be able to track this charlatan down,” said Belle carefully as she turned to look at him again, button to the elevator now engaged. “I’m not sure how easy it would be though, or even what they could charge him with. He didn’t actually steal anything at all, did he?”

“No, indeed,” Gold considered. “In fact, I am a richer man than before he entered my home,” he smiled slightly, holding his hand aloft.

Belle saw the thin gold chain dangling between his fingers with the locket swinging gently at the bottom. August had handed it to Gold and he had not got it back. Not that he needed it anymore, now his cover was blown. Belle was at least glad Gold had the little trinket to show for his ordeal, the pictures of those he had loved most. Maybe it was worth it in the end, at least in Robert’s eyes.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said with a soft smile, unable to resist going up on her toes then to kiss his cheek. “Please remember that none of this is your fault,” she said in barely a whisper. “You are a good man, Robert Gold.”

With that she stepped backwards into the elevator, deliberately keeping her eyes away from his until the doors closed and took him from her view. Gold was left feeling bewildered by this latest turn of events. He had no idea that his were not the only tears shed tonight, as the elevator plunged downward, and Belle sobbed within.

* * *

Belle arrived home in the worst of moods, or so she thought until it deteriorated.

“Regina!” she all but growled when she found a box on the coffee table, tied with a pretty gold bow.

The locks had been changed after the last little package from Ms Mills, and yet she had found her way in again. Belle knew it was foolish even trying to keep her out, and yet she had done it out of spite somehow. Slumping down in the armchair, she reached to unfurl the ribbon, and then open the white box. Inside she found what she expected, another disposable cell phone. It was proof for Belle, if proof were needed, that August’s visit was all the evil bitch’s doing. At some point very soon, the phone would doubtless ring and Belle would have to bite her tongue to save from making matters worse for everyone. Today of all days, it was not going to come easy.

Belle put her hands to her face and took a long breath. In her mind’s eye she saw Robert, the moment after August walked out of the door, tears streaming down his face. He had been so devastated to realise someone he loved had been used to hurt him. Belle’s insides twisted up, imagining how bad it was going to get when she revealed her true self. At some point it had to happen. It was presumptuous to think that Gold loved her well enough already to be actually heart-broken by her betrayal, but she believed it was completely possible. She loved him, as much as she ever loved a man in her life, she knew. It was crazy and ridiculous, beyond insane, but Belle knew it was as true as she was sat here. She hated it.

Right on cue, the phone in the box rang, making a horrible shrill sound. Belle grabbed it up, accepting the call, and snapping at the bitch she knew had to be on the other end.

“Why did you do that?” she asked sharply.

“Why did I do what, Belle, dear?” asked Regina in cloying, honeyed tones. “I’m sure you can’t mean my beautiful plan that has helped you so much in your own endeavours?”

Belle bit down hard on her own tongue until she tasted blood. Nothing left as bitter taste in her mouth as any kind word of thanks she might have to give Regina. She had few choices right now, if she wanted everyone to come out of this alive.

“You knew that he’d see through August,” she said then, a statement not a question. “You did it on purpose.”

“Well, of course I did,” Regina laughed like a bell. “What better way to get you the very easiest of in-roads to the old man’s shrivelled heart than to break it a little, and have you be there as the dedicated confidante, a soft female shoulder to cry on.”

Belle couldn’t speak. Bile rose in her throat and she swore she was going to be sick if she had to hear anymore. She knew the truth of the situation long before Regina admitted it, but hearing the words like this was making it ten times worse. It reminded Belle how hopeless her situation was, how much she was going to hurt Robert in the end, whether she wanted to or not.

“Anyway, I just wanted to ensure you understand what needs to happen next, Miss Hart,” said Regina then, suddenly all business and serious, as if she just knew Belle was mentally tearing her limb from limb right now. “I’m getting a little tired of your slow progress, so how about we up the ante with a little deadline?” she smiled, though Belle could not see it she heard the evil smirk. “One month. That is how long I’m giving you. If you haven’t given me hard evidence of Gold’s dealings, and worked him into a position where he simply can’t live without you in that time, please be assured, Miss Hart, your own destruction will be imminent, by any means necessary.”

Belle opened her mouth to yell and scream, but the line was already dead. It didn’t stop the string of curses that flew from her lips at quite a volume, uncharacteristic even for her true identity most of the time, and then the tears came again. She felt so hopelessly lost, and under this new deadline, more so than ever. She just had no idea what to do next.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The love this fic gets astounds me sometimes - thank you all so much!!! :)

Belle lay in bed staring at the ceiling. She had her emergency getaway bag out on the bedroom floor, just begging to be grabbed up and hefted out the door. She had been considering it all night and still hadn’t slept, even though it was already four in the morning. This job was giving her too many sleepless nights, too much pain and reasons to cry.

Belle had never had to work like this before. She usually chose her own heists and cons to pull, which made it very easy to change her mind and back out if needed. Even working with the team before, if things got dicey or anyone got in too deep, there were ways around it, other people to call on for help. In this situation, Belle was so very alone and entirely stuck.

Running was still an option. She knew roughly where Snow and Charming were, there was a vague chance she could get to them before Regina, and yet she worried that she wouldn’t. Risking her friends would be bad enough, but there was their baby to consider now too. Not to mention Belle’s own Papa that Regina knew all about. She couldn’t do it, not to the people she loved so much, and yet there was another person in her heart now and hurting him was killing her by degrees.

Belle had never fallen for the mark before, and would hardly believe she’d allowed it to happen now. She wasn’t stupid, she took care not to let her heart rule her head, and yet it was so difficult this time around. Choosing the bad guy to go after had always meant she had a reason to keep her distance. She knew how awful the person she was trying to take down truly was. She had only Regina’s word on Gold’s evil deeds, and day by day she had come to realise that which wasn’t fabricated was at the very least exaggerated.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Belle sat up and checked the clock. Not much past four and still dark outside. If she left now, it would be hours before those at Gold Industries knew she was gone, maybe a little more before Regina realised. That was if no-one was watching her apartment right now. That being the case, Belle’s running into the night would immediately give the evil businesswoman cause for concern. She couldn’t do it, for so many reasons, she just couldn’t.

There was only one place Belle could possibly be right now, and that was neither here nor a hundred miles away in hiding. Robert Gold was a good man and he had been hurt today. She had no doubt sleep would not come easily to him either, that he was probably sat alone in his apartment, upset as he had been when she left or more so. She loved him, whether he realised it or not, whether it was right or wrong. Her place was by his side in his hour of need, and so that was where she would be.

* * *

Gold sat staring at the far wall. The bedroom was but a few feet away, just ready to be made use of, and yet here he was. He had been considering things all night and still hadn’t slept, even though it was getting close to five in the morning.

From the day his son was born, Gold’s whole life revolved around the boy. Baelfire was everything to him, especially after Milah left. He was his blood, his legacy, his reason for being, and yet all attempts to do what was right and best for his son had ended badly. Gold worked hard, made deals he probably shouldn’t have made, in an attempt to have enough, to be enough for his Bae. He wanted to be the kind of man that a son was proud and happy to call Papa. Gold worked all hours for the money and notoriety to please Bae, but in the end, all he achieved was driving his son away.

Children wanted company, understanding, someone to turn to, to talk to. Gold should have been better at that side of things. If he had, perhaps Baelfire wouldn’t have had such cause to run from him, to stay away so long. The sixteen year old that had skipped the country alone would now be over thirty, and Gold had not seen him from that day to this. An age that had doubled, and not a single glimpse had his father seen of him, until suddenly yesterday it felt as if a dream had come true.

Such a cruel trick, Gold knew that against the right person, such a thing would be inspired and he would’ve been proud to think of it too. Having such a con pulled on himself made Gold feel sick. He may not be the kindest of souls, but he had not thought anyone capable of bringing such cruelty to his door. The only candidate might be Regina, and the very thought of it made his blood boil in his veins.

Coming at him through his business, that was how she had played games before. Trying to steal away clients or botch his deals the moment his back was turned. She had her reasons, of course, Gold even knew what the chief among those were, though he never spoke of it, not to her, not to anyone. Still, hiring a man to play his son and try to fool him in such a cruel way, he wondered if even she was cable of such a thing. Perhaps she was, but at the same time, she ought to be smarter than to think he wouldn’t see through the fake eventually.

That particular fact gave Gold pause for thought. As clever as he was himself, he had been blinded by this charlatan’s lies. He wanted that man to be Baelfire, wanted to think his son had finally sought him out to build bridges. Gold ought to have known it wasn’t true, and yet, he had so wanted it to be, he had allowed that want to blind him to the truth. If not for Belle it might’ve taken much more time to realise the reality of the situation, if he even noticed at all. It could all have been too late by the time his eyes were opened.

“Belle,” he said to himself, smiling slightly through his pain as he thought of her.

Such a woman as her, it was wrong to even hope she might care for him as he did for her. Gold knew it was foolish, ridiculous even, but she was so different to any other woman he ever met, and all he could ever imagine wanting in a partner. His wife had been beautiful and seemingly kind and caring. She had proven to be rotten on the inside, all out for what she could get. That had proven true of the second supposed love in Gold’s life as well, a woman who had used him ill and left him as his wife before him had done. Belle was different. Her kindness was genuine, he was sure of that, her emotions so close to the surface, Gold was forever certain she was being truthful with him. She was honest to the point of bluntness, saying things that others would not dare to their boss, especially an old tyrant as his reputation stated he was. Gold smiled as he thought about it more. Yes, Belle was special, too special for the likes of him, and yet she did keep appearing right when he needed her. She seemed to anticipate it, his need for a kind word or a moment’s assistance.

The smile slid off Gold’s lips then, a frown furrowing his brow as he poured another measure of scotch into his crystal glass. Belle knew a great deal, a lot more than one would expect from a simple office girl of her age. She was always there at just the right moment, and Gold started to wonder if that was less her kindness at work or something far more sinister. He had expected Regina to send another of her minions after him, to play him like the proverbial fiddle. For a while he had suspected his newest recruit, Isabelle Hart, was that particular person. It had taken only a couple of weeks for him to decide he must in fact be wrong. Belle showed no signs then of being nosy or anything. No deals had gone awry, which meant she was feeding nothing of consequence back to Regina or anyone else that might wish to take down Gold.

It was a preposterous idea to be reconsidering the possibility of Belle being anything but what she was; a kind-hearted soul that wanted to be his friend. Gold let out a long breath and ran a hand over his forehead which ached already. No fool like an old fool, that’s how the saying went, and it was most likely to be proved true by himself. Gold never thought he could fall for another woman in his lifetime, not after what he had suffered with those that had gone before. Belle had charmed him, and yet he knew she could not feel that way for him. Nobody could now.

A buzzing sound startled Gold from his thoughts. His cell phone was hopping across the coffee table and he wondered who on Earth would be calling at such an hour. He was ever more surprised to realise the very person he had been thinking of was trying to get in touch.

“Belle?” he said as he accepted the call.

“Robert, I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” she asked, forever concerned she had done wrong, he noted once again.

“No, dearie. No sleep has not found me at all tonight. I’m afraid I didn’t even try to let it,” he sighed. “But what about you? What are you doing up at such an hour?” he checked.

“I’m actually in the office,” she confessed. “I used the key you gave me for emergencies and came this far, but the elevator...”

“I’ll over-ride that,” he interrupted, realising immediately what her problem was.

For reasons or security and such, only Gold could access the buttons in the elevator that came up to the two floors that were his apartment. It demanded a key that only he possessed. Not even his personal assistants had copies, and therefore he had to unlock the hatch on the keypad up here, and send the car down so they could select the right floor. Such he did for Belle as she waited patiently, and then quite quickly appeared before him.

“I was worried about you,” she said in explanation, before he ever got a chance to ask the question about why she was her.

“There’s no need,” he told her, with a shake of his head.

For a change it seemed she was the one telling the whole truth, and he was the liar. There was no way Gold’s state could ever be described as okay right now. There was every need for her to worry about him, for Belle to come and ensure her boss and friend was coping. Even if she hadn’t gone and fallen in love with him, as a human being she ought still to care and he ought to realise that she would.

“Robert, please,” said Belle as she stepped out of the elevator in front of him. “I only want to help, if I can,” she told him. “You can’t just bottle up what you’re feeling about your son, about what that devious snake did to you yesterday.”

The words were like acid on her tongue even as she spoke them and Belle tried not to grimace at the sound of them falling from her lips. She was just as bad as August. Though her love was true now, it had not been so in the beginning. The relationship she had with Robert was built on lies, to the point where he didn’t even know her real name. Still, the fact remained that August had caused him pain, and that he probably did need a friendly shoulder. That at least she could be for him right now.

“You don’t want to hear my self-indulgent ramblings and ancient history,” Gold grumbled, looking away.

Belle’s hand on his arm got his full attention back again in an instant.

“If you want to tell me, then I want to hear,” she smiled kindly.

He stared back at her with the oddest of expressions then. Belle felt an involuntary shiver run through her body at the intensity of his gaze, forgetting to worry that he might be reading some lie in her eyes. It shouldn’t be possible anyway. In this moment, she told nothing but truth.

“Why?” asked Robert, as if he couldn’t understand at all.

“Because... I care about you,” Belle replied, so soft she barely heard her own words and wondered if he really could’ve known what she said at all.

The small smile that curved his lips suggested he must have done, and then he turned to survey the apartment in which they stood. Belle honestly wasn’t sure what he was going to say or do next. She was a little surprised, but not in a bad way, when he moved to grab his coat and gestured her back into the elevator.

“Well, where are we going?” she asked with a frown, a little confused by the sudden turn of events.

“Home,” replied Gold simply as he closed the elevator doors and the car plunged down.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this fic has a lot of pain and angst, but sometimes there are hints of a payoff... (keep reading!) Also, thank you to everyone who left feedback - you all rock!!

Belle had yet to see Gold’s townhouse. She knew what it looked like from a picture, and had the GPS co-ordinates and actual street address noted in the file she had got from Regina, but she had never stood before it, never been invited into it, until today. It was no later than five thirty on a crisp Tuesday morning as dawn broke, and Robert pulled the Cadillac up outside of his ‘home away from home’, as he described it. On the journey over, he made mention of using the apartment over the offices most week days to save the fuss of coming and going. He also spoke of his ancestral home back in Scotland, and how the townhouse here was really a poor substitute. However, it was more comfortable than the apartment.

“It’s... not really what I expected,” Belle admitted as she looked up at the modestly sized home, in a shade of pale pink that the photograph didn’t really do justice.

“The size or the colour?” he smirked, unable to help it.

“Both perhaps, or neither,” said Belle, honestly puzzling over it. “I don’t know, it’s just not exactly the house I would’ve picked for you.”

She had chosen her words badly and she knew it, implying she wanted to pick out a home for him, perhaps for the two of them. As if they were living in some perfect little fairytale where dreams came true and happily ever after existed. No such luck.

“Well, regardless of appearance, it can assure you it is my house, dearie,” said Gold then. “At least for as long as I choose to live here. Come on inside,” he encouraged her, moving to get out of the car himself.

Belle dutifully followed, not having to worry too much about traffic at such an early hour. She climbed the steps at a slow pace so as not to over take him, and waited whilst he unlocked the door. Gold didn’t say anything, just went in and presumably expected her to follow still. It was all fairly normal looking inside, if not somewhat old-fashioned. Belle had expected that given the way Gold’s office and apartment were furnished. The living room chairs looked inviting, and the kitchen beyond appeared to be fully functional. It was a nice house, with shining wooden banister rails up the stairs and plush rugs on the floors. Perhaps from the outside it didn’t look much like a place Gold would live, but Belle had to admit that from the inside she would place him exactly here.

“Do sit down, dearie,” he told her as he disappeared down the hallway.

Belle felt wrong as she forced a smile and headed into the living room. This was Robert’s home, his sanctuary. As much as he was comfortable in his apartment, even in his office, this was different. This was home, at least as far as America was concerned. Suddenly Belle felt as if she were encroaching on something, digging into places she should never be. Her stomach lurched. This ought to feel normal to her. Getting into other people’s personal business was what she did to get her job done. This just wasn’t a job anymore. It was so far away that now, and yet it was still a con. Belle was lying at every turn, almost as bad as August... Her breath caught in her throat as she spotted a framed photograph on the mantle. It had pride of place in the centre, a perfect portrait of a boy, no more than fifteen.

“Baelfire,” she said, running her hand over the glass that kept his image safe.

“Aye,” said a voice behind her.

Belle spun around so fast to face Gold that she almost sent the picture flying. It was more by luck than judgement that it remained in her grasp.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly replacing the framed photo on the mantle.

“You really must stop apologising for every little thing,” he smiled kindly as he came over to stare at his son’s picture. “My boy,” he sighed. “As he was then, of course. I have no idea what he would look like now.”

Belle opened her mouth to offer sympathy but closed it again fast. Not only would such a thing begin with ‘I’m sorry’ which he had just urged her not to say, but pity was also not what she was here for. She had come to help him, to make him feel better after his ordeal, to cheer him up if such a thing were possible.

“You make me feel quite ashamed,” she said then, a little amused by his confused expression. “I haven’t seen my own Papa in too long,” she explained, immediately wishing she hadn’t.

As if she really needed to remind herself about the pain she had caused her father. Add to that the awkward fact that Belle had just brought to mind the age difference between herself and Robert, and she really had said the worst thing she possibly could. A change of subject was needed, and fast.

“Tell me about Baelfire,” she urged him, sitting herself down in the armchair. “I mean, that is why we came here, isn’t it? I really think it would help you, to talk about the good times.”

Gold smiled at her thoughtful nature. She meant well, of course, dear sweet Belle. Perhaps it would be nice to share some history with her, some of the cheerier tales from when his son was a boy and he was young enough not to worry about so many things as he did now.

“Not sure there’s much I could tell that you’d care to hear,” he sighed, seating himself in the opposite chair and resting his cane by the side. “But if you really insist.”

“I really do,” said Belle with a genuine smile as she pulled her legs up under her and settled in.

Robert began to spin tales of the past, and Belle quite forgot the two of them were anything but what they seemed. Friends and confidantes, two people falling in love perhaps. It was a pretty dream for as long as it lasted. It was only a shame to know that the spell would break eventually.

* * *

“And there he stood, surrounded by flour, with a look of pure innocence on his face, saying ‘but Papa, I was helping’,” Robert completed his story with a genuine chuckle.

Belle covered her mouth with her hand as she joined in the laughter. It had been quite the story and she could just imagine a pint sized Bae in such a state. Gold was good at telling stories, albeit these were factual rather than fiction. Belle couldn’t help but think if he hadn’t been a man of business he might’ve been a writer or a public speaker. He had quite the way with words.

It had been nice to see his face light up as he spoke of his son. There was no doubt at all in Belle’s mind that Baelfire really was the most important thing in Robert’s life. He adored him as a boy and would love to see him again as a man. It was such a shame to think a reunion may never happen, and doubly painful to remember what August had done last night.

“And what of you, Belle?” he said then. “Any tales from your past you care to share in return for my walk down memory lane?” he asked, hand flicking from himself to her in some pointless but habitual gesture.

“I don’t know,” she smiled coyly. “I was a bit of a loner as a girl,” she admitted, the truth through and through because she had no reason to lie when speaking of her formative years at least. “Much happier under a pile of books than in a room full of people. My Papa said he couldn’t understand what I found so fascinating about far off lands, of wizards and fairies. He didn’t know how unhappy real life made me sometimes...”

Belle broke off when she realised what she had revealed, a slice of the weakness she usually kept hidden from just about everyone. Her childhood had been happy enough, but later things had turned darker. Her life of crime had flourished and she had become so many personas over the time. It was easy to lose track of herself sometimes, but here and now, though Robert couldn’t know it, she was as much Belinda French as she had ever been.

A part of Belle yearned to speak the truth. She wanted Robert to know her, as she had come to know him, every facet, good and bad. He might not like what he saw, but if he did love her, if he could find a way, perhaps there was a chance they could be happy yet. It was a long shot, and only a girl with her head in the clouds of a fairytale would believe in such a chance being real. Belinda French wanted to believe in it, but Isabelle Hart and all the other personas in between, they knew better. She bit her lip, fought back tears that crept up on her unawares.

“You did as Bae felt he had to,” said Robert, his voice low and soft as she had ever heard it. “You ran away.”

“In a way, I suppose,” Belle admitted sadly. “You must think I’m a terrible person,” she said, wiping under one eye before a tear could escape down her cheek.

“Never,” he assured her, only making her want to cry harder.

If he knew the truth, she would be more than terrible in his eyes, practically evil for what she had come here to do. Belle had yet to find a way around it and wished like anything that she had a little back up, another member of her team, somebody on her side that would understand her predicament. Such persons were too many miles away to help her.

“Belle, why did you come here with me?” he asked curiously, staring across at her with such intensity, she almost couldn’t bear it. “Why do you care so much?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, the absolute truth in this moment, because there was nothing else to give. “I suppose because we’ve become friends, because I can’t see a reason not to care for a man like you.”

“Not many would agree with your opinion of a man like me,” he said, glancing away.

“There are no men like you, not exactly,” she tried in vain to explain, dropping down from her chair to crouch before him and make him meet her eyes. “Robert, I never knew that I could come to care for another person like this, not after everything...” she shook her head, grasping his hands in hers, desperate and needing to let this out now before the pressure building inside burst her heart open. “I... I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“Belle...” he tried to say, sure that this couldn’t be real, and yet she would not be interrupted.

“Please, Robert! I have to tell you this, I have to find a way,” she said desperately, tears building in her eyes and threatening to escape any second.

There weren’t the words within her. Belle was usually so quick-witted and sharp-tongued, and now suddenly she couldn’t make so much as a reasonable sentence that described even a fraction of what she was feeling. ‘I love you’ was ridiculous and dangerous. ‘I care for you’ just didn’t convey all that was rushing around inside her heart and head. Belle came up with only one answer to her problem as Robert Gold’s beautifully expressive eyes stared down into her own. Pushing herself forward, she let her lips find his in a sweet kiss.

Gold was stunned. He had been thinking of this for a while now, getting this close to Belle, and yet had always told himself he was a silly old fool for even contemplating it. She was his employee who had fast become a confidante and friend, but that was all. To be romantically involved with her would make him certifiably insane, Robert had convinced himself of that to save himself from all kinds of problems. The one time when insanity had broken through and almost convinced him to kiss her, she had bolted from his sight, and Gold had quite sold himself on the fact that Belle was repulsed by his advances. Now she was kissing him, her hands at his face, her body close, and it was a kind of magic he had never known.

It was instinct, Gold supposed, that put his arms around Belle’s back and pulled her to him, responding to her kiss with a passion too long repressed. She was beautiful and special, the most wonderful woman he had ever met. He loved her, he knew that, though such a confession had never yet passed his lips. She clearly had feelings for him as well, and yet a voice in Gold’s head soon over-rode even the overpowering white noise that her kiss evoked. That voice was his reasoning and conscience. This was not a good step forward, not as good as it felt. This woman was half his age, his employee, and in real terms, he barely knew her! When she moaned against his lips, he almost forgot to listen to his own good sense, but Gold knew he must be stronger.

They both gasped for breath when they parted, his hands at her shoulders holding her away a moment.

Belle couldn’t see straight never mind think as she tried to regain her bearings. She hadn’t really thought reality could ever live up to dreams, but kissing Robert really had been beyond good. Now he had stopped her and was looking at her with such an expression on his face, she hardly knew what to think. It was almost as if he were afraid of what they had done, and yet it was only a kiss. Perhaps the best kiss Belle had ever shared with anyone, but still, a kiss it remained.

“Robert...” she said softly, but was permitted no more words.

“Go!” he told her sharply, giving her a light shove.

Belle frowned, not knowing what to think. She couldn’t have read the signs wrong, she knew for sure that she hadn’t. Gold had wanted her for weeks now. He had very nearly kissed her the night of the ball, and if she would have let him, goodness only knew where that might’ve led. This time she had initiated contact, sweet at first but then entirely passionate, and now he was pushing her away. It didn’t make sense.

“I said go!” he repeated, getting up out of the chair and turning his back on her.

“But... why?” she gasped, scrambling to her feet as well.

“Because I asked you to, dearie, and that should be good enough!” he told her, a hard edge to his voice, despite the endearment.

Belle thought about arguing but in the end decided against. Perhaps she had just shocked him, but there was the very real possibility that the situation was much worse. If he was wondering about her motives now, maybe it was best she left whilst he was giving her the chance. Grabbing up her coat and purse, she took a couple of steps towards the hallway and then stopped when he spoke again.

“I’m sorry, Belle” he said, making her look back at him, and their eyes met. “I’m not angry with you, I just... I think it’s best that you go for now.”

“I understand,” she nodded once, walking away before she cried again, or worse.

Gold closed his eyes, heard the front door shut behind Belle with a thud. A second later he spun around, sending the nearest vase hurtling across the room. It smashed in the hearth, a hundred tiny fragments of china going everywhere. Not for the first time today, Robert Gold broke down.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone want to tell me why I decided writing this EPIC tale was a good idea?! 23 chapters in and we only passed the MIDDLE of this story a little while ago. With your support, dearies, I will do my level best to steer this thing to its happy ever after ending in the next 17-20 chapters - at least, that's the plan! ;)

There were good reasons why getting into a close personal relationship with someone you worked alongside was a bad plan. These reasons increased ten fold when the person in question was your boss. Belle had a few more on her list that came purely from the fact she was faking this whole thing in the beginning, that the man who was her employer turned love interest was also the mark of an elaborate con. She had never felt so out of her depth, or so stupid.

By the time she left Gold’s townhouse this morning, it was perfectly light outside. Catching a cab and hurrying herself along meant she would make it to the office on time, but she really didn’t want to go. Belle knew it wasn’t an option not to show up, it would only raise suspicion, especially if Robert didn’t show either. After yesterday’s drama and this morning’s developments, she doubted he would. The two of them absent together, it was just too much to explain away later, and the last thing Belle needed was Ruby or the other girls asking questions, gossiping about what she was up to.

So here she was. Isabelle Hart, Administrator and Personal Assistant, with a smile on her face that was as fake as the red streaks in Ruby’s hair. She acted professionally, kept on going and was seemingly chipper, even as her heart broke inside.

Belle wasn’t sure why she had kissed Gold. Well, that wasn’t strictly true, she did know why. She loved him. At this point she was so completely in love that she could hardly bear it, never mind find the words to explain. When the moment came and the feelings just couldn’t be repressed anymore, she expressed them in the only way she could find - she kissed him. It had been a good kiss, there was no doubt about that. Belle considered every other kiss she had experienced, both real and faked, and nothing ever felt like that. Perhaps it meant he did love her too, that this was the elusive and impossible ‘true love’ that she hadn’t believed in for years, at least not until Snow and Charming had fallen for each other. Belle certainly hadn’t thought she would ever find true love herself, and Robert Gold was the last man she would have chosen as a potential partner. Never the less, she did love him, and as lucky as it might’ve seemed to realise he could feel the same, the whole relationship was doomed from the beginning thanks to Regina Mills.

If she thought to much about Robert, Belle wanted to cry. If she thought too much about Regina, she wanted to throw things! With just one of them to deal with in any normal situation, she would find it hard to cope. With both of them, the con, and all her mixed up feelings, Belle was surprised she hadn’t gone completely insane yet... and there was still time for that. When the copy machine refused to respond to her instruction, Belle lashed out, slamming her flat hand against the lid, so hard it was surprising the glass didn’t crack.

“Stupid!” she yelled, kicking the contraption for good measure. “Stupid! So. Very. Stupid!” she continued on, every word punctuated by another blow.

There was no doubt Belle’s words had nothing to do with the stupidity of the electrical item before her. She was angry and upset with herself for being such a fool, for getting sucked into this situation, allowing herself to be used, allowing herself to fall in love with possibly the most inappropriate man on the planet.

“Belle?” said a voice from the doorway.

She stopped sharply, turning to see who was there. What a mess she must look, how completely crazy too. Trust her audience of one to be the resident psychologist of all people!

“Hi, Archie,” she forced out a pleasantry, but the accompanying attempt at a smile was weak and barely earnt its name. “I was, er...”

“Beating on the copy machine?” he asked with a slight smirk. “You want some help?” he offered.

Belle didn’t really answer, just nodded absently and backed up a step. Archie inspected the machine and immediately realised what was wrong. He opened the drawer and showed Belle there was simply no paper loaded for the copier to print onto. Without a word, he filled it up, and Belle turned away, feeling ridiculous.

So much for her career as a grifter, a practised thief, one of the best in the business. As smart and articulate and brave as she was supposed to be, and now look at her. Reduced to an admin job that she couldn’t even cope with because just as soon as the copier ran out of paper she had a break down.

“Belle,” said Archie as he turned around, urging her hands away from her face. “Would you like to come and talk to me?” he offered kindly. “I mean, I might be wrong, but it seems to me that more is upsetting you than the copier.”

He wasn’t wrong, of course, and Belle would dearly love to have someone to bring her troubles too. Archie was sweet and kind, apparently qualified too. She trusted he could keep a confidence, as all doctors had to. Still, if it came down to blowing her cover or not, she doubted that was a secret even Dr Hopper would be prepared to keep. She couldn’t risk it, but Belle did wonder if she could be careful enough, if she could stick to her act and only tell Archie about her relationship with Gold. He might judge her for being a cliché, the whole secretary getting with the boss thing, but that was a small price to pay to clear her head some.

“I’m not sure if I can right now,” she said, sniffing so as not to let herself get upset again. “Mr Gold isn’t in at the moment, but if he turns up and finds me gone...”

“You let me worry about Mr Gold,” said Archie, carefully steering her towards the door. “He employs me to look after the welfare of his staff and that’s all that I’m doing. I’ll send a private message up to his office, letting him know you’re with me. You won’t be in trouble, I promise.”

Archie was so kind. Belle knew she didn’t deserve any of it, but for now she would take it anyway, because it was all she had. She was genuinely going to go crazy if she didn’t at least get some of this off her chest. With a little luck, she would be able to figure out what to do with all these feelings she had for Gold, even if Archie could never be told the truth of why she was here in the first place.

* * *

“Mr Gold,” said Astrid, practically curtseying as he came in the door. “We... we weren’t expecting you today.”

He didn’t answer her, merely scowled and kept on walking. He could do without such petty annoyances most days, but today in particular. He walked towards his own office door, stopping a moment between Ruby and Belle’s desks.

“Where is she?” he asked of the latter.

Ruby squirmed.

“I don’t know exactly, sir,” she admitted. “I mean, she’s here, in this building,” she smiled brightly. “She went to do some Xeroxing a while back...”

Gold didn’t wait for further ramblings, just breezed by demanding he be told when Belle returned. He wasn’t angry with her, he had been honest when he told her that, but her not being where she was supposed to be was only going to raise suspicion. As if it weren’t bad enough knowing he had been played for a fool by a man pretending to be his son. Then allowing a girl from the office to all but seduce him; Gold had to wonder if he was losing his mind.

It seemed almost comical when he realised there was a message on his private line and who it was from. That particular number was only known by a select few within the company and even less outside of it. The machine clicked and beeped, then played a brief whispered message from Dr Hopper. At least now Gold knew where Belle was, but he almost wished he’d languished in ignorance a while longer. There was no telling what secrets she might impart to Hopper. Gold trusted the therapist to keep his mouth shut out of a mixture of respect and abject fear, but that wasn’t really the point. He would still know the details of what had happened, and Robert would sooner nobody did.

There was no way Gold ever expected Belle to kiss him when he took her to his home this morning. She was a sympathetic ear and a literal shoulder to cry on. Yes, he liked her. If he were honest, he both wanted her and loved her, but these were not things he would ever say or act upon, for more reasons than he would ever care to count. When Belle kissed him, it ought to have been the sign Robert was looking for. It couldn’t be wrong for him to want this if she did too, at least that was what he thought at first. After that there was a heady daze filled with no thoughts at all, and then reality had struck him like a blow to the head.

Belle was his assistant, akin to a secretary and fast becoming a cliché if he let her into his bed. There was nowhere he would rather have her be, truth be told, but he couldn’t ruin her reputation in such a way. That thought was quickly followed by more regarding his own position in life, their age difference, his past, his vague wondering from before about whether or not Belle was really all she seemed. Those grew in number after he threw her out for both their sakes.

The man who claimed to be Baelfire was a very clever fake, not clever enough, but still. Belle couldn’t be that kind of person, Gold was so sure, and yet a voice in the back of his mind sing-songed cruelly that she might just be. If for no other reason, she had to be a phoney because why else would a woman like her appear to be in love with a man like him?

* * *

“And I... I don’t know how it happened exactly. I didn’t come here looking to seduce the boss, I’m not that kind of person,” said Belle, as she explained everything about her relationship with Gold.

She was lying already, for about the fourth time in as many minutes, just hoping even a professional psychologist couldn’t see through her. The feelings she spoke of were at least true and that ought to be enough, she hoped, for Archie to help her.

“I’m sure Mr Gold doesn’t think that,” Dr Hopper said kindly. “So, you and he have grown closer...”

“Yes,” she nodded. “We’ve been more like friends recently, and the night he took me to the charity ball, I thought... I actually think he thought about kissing me. He didn’t get the chance because... well, I’m ashamed to say I ran away from him.”

Archie made some notes, and looked thoughtful a moment. He had to tread carefully, given he was dealing with the boss’ assistant and the feelings that existed between the two.

“So, you didn’t want him to kiss you at that time?” he asked.

“No... I mean, I did actually,” said Belle hopelessly. “I ran because... because I knew it would be wrong. Robert is such a lovely man but he’s my boss and a little older than the guys I usually date,” she sighed and shook her head. “I just don’t want to make things more complicated.”

“Well, you know, Belle, sometimes feelings do make things complicated,” said Archie leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “What we have to figure out is if the complications are worth it. If what we’re feeling is worth fighting for or against.”

Belle knew what he said made sense, and on more levels than Dr Hopper himself could possibly know. This really did all come down to how much she believed in her love for Robert and his for her. If it was true love, if it was real and could genuinely last, then it had to be worth fighting for. Of course, that meant fighting Regina and attempting to save her Papa and her old team all by herself. It was the biggest gamble Belle would ever make in her life, but if this was her one shot at true love, maybe it was worth it.

“What would you do for love, Archie?” she asked. “What would you risk?”

The therapist looked so very serious, as he sat back in his chair, clipboard balanced on his knee. Belle couldn’t imagine what he was going to reply to such a question. There was nothing to say Archie had ever been in love. Up until recently, Belle was sure she never had been.

“I think that within the confines of my own moral code, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do or risk if I truly loved someone enough,” said Archie. “But the real question, isn’t for me to answer, is it?” he smiled kindly. “Tell me, Belle, if the situation were different, if society were more accepting, if Mr Gold were a man you met away from the workplace. Take away all the little things that make you question if a relationship with him is the right thing, and tell me honestly, do you love him enough to want to be with him?”

“Yes,” Belle replied immediately, before her brain had hardly processed it.

Archie seemed pleased with her quick reaction, because it proved it was the truth. Nobody could conjure a lie at that speed.

“I love him,” she said aloud, the first time ever, and it sounded a lot nicer and less scary outside of her head, even if the danger of it did still remain very real.

“Then it’s all up to you now,” the therapist told her. “Ask yourself what you’re putting on the line for this love. Is what you could gain worth what you might lose?”

Belle opened her mouth to reply to that then closed it again just as fast. There wasn’t much in her life worth losing, but what there was mattered so much to her - her blood and non-blood family both. At the same time, walking away from Robert Gold was something too awful to bear thinking of. She had some very big decisions to make, and though Archie had helped her get things into perspective, it all came down to Belle in the end. She had never been so terrified and yet she was suddenly very sure about what she needed to do next.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You reader types are all still with me, right? Yes? Good! Thank you :)

Belle felt just a little bad using Archie the way she did. Not that she told any real lies to him when she said she didn’t feel she could work the rest of the day. He assured her that he would smooth things over with Gold and so Belle was released. It did occur to her that if Robert really wanted to talk to her about what had happened, he could easily show up at her door, but Belle suspected he wouldn’t go that far. She hoped not, because she was bound to do something foolish and there were priorities that had to be taken care of first.

Contacting Snow and Charming was dangerous, Belle knew that, but they had what might be called emergency protocols. Technology was a wonderful thing, and with scramble lines running and all possible security in place, she fired off an email to her friends and team-mates. Even if it was intercepted, no-one could work out what she was talking about without the cipher that only her team-mates held.

Belle trusted she didn’t need to warn the other guys of danger. She doubted Regina had any idea when she recruited August that the two of them even knew each other. He was going to have to take care of himself on this one, Belle had other priorities. Her father was her main concern, since there was no-one to protect him but herself. Belle had one person in mind that owed her a favour that might be able to offer her father some protection, but she wasn’t sure about calling him after everything that had gone before. It seemed that she had no choice in the circumstances. In five minutes she had fired off a second email, in plain text, hoping it wasn’t intercepted. If her old team-mates’ technology was to be trusted she would be okay, and she did trust them, she had to.

Letting out a long breath, Belle sat back from her computer and let a smile curve her lips. She had done all she could do. She had put Snow and Charming on their guard and hopefully got someone in place to keep her father safe. It meant Regina wasn’t so much of a threat now, allowing Belle to put her own plans into action. Those plans began tomorrow morning with her best dress, a bright smile, and an offer made to a man she never did think to fall for in the beginning.

From feeling as if the love she had fallen into would be her doom, Belle now saw it as a light in a very long and dark tunnel. Archie had helped her look at things from a new and more positive perspective. She knew what she needed to do now, even if the methods were still sketchy and the path unchartered. She had confidence, which was the word from which con came after all. Strange though that it was the end of her conning Gold that was what she really had all the confidence in.

* * *

Gold wasn’t sure what he dreaded more - Belle turning up for work this morning or the opposite. Dr Hopper had explained how she was feeling upset and that he had sent her home to rest and to think. Of course he would not tell Gold exactly what his patient had discussed with him, and neither did the boss expect him too. Though he may not have as much respect for some of his other staff, there was no way Robert Gold would do anything to further compromise his relationship with Belle.

How they moved forward from all that had happened, he hadn’t an idea. If she were just some floozy that Gold had taken into his bed, he would have no qualms about finding any way he could to fire her legally. It was much easier than some people thought, especially when you excelled in deals and contracts as Gold did. Belle was a different story altogether. She had really done nothing wrong, and certainly nothing that Gold would want to tell the public at large about. The truth of the matter was, she had come to care for him and he for her. That was a ridiculous state of affairs, and Gold knew it, but it remained all the same with no way to change it, as far as he could tell.

Not knowing what she was thinking or feeling only made it worse, and yet the idea of trying to have a conversation with Belle about what had passed at his townhouse yesterday, it made Gold more nervous than he had ever been. He had not courted a young lady in so long, understandable perhaps given his age and past, but the fact remained. Honestly, in this situation, he couldn’t helped but feel as if Belle were courting him rather than the other way around. It was ideas such as these that made Gold wonder and worry. He had been so taken in by the man who professed to be Baelfire and it still niggled in the back of is mind that this charlatan and Belle could be two of a kind.

Women as well as men could be con artists. Many a powerful or wealthy person of business and stature had been seduced and torn asunder by an unscrupulous maid or similar. Gold did not want to think that way about Belle and shook his head free of such dark thoughts. She could not be this way, she could not have lied about her feelings or faked the sweet looks and sweeter kiss they had shared. Gold refused to believe it of the woman he was fast falling in love with, even if that did make him an even bigger fool.

Pushing his hair back off his forehead, Gold took a breath and made himself be calm. This was ridiculous and he would not give into it. Belle was a sweet girl who liked him, though he hadn’t a clue why she should. To have an actual relationship with her would be preposterous, despite how much he wanted it, wanted her. He had to be stronger than that, and keep his resolve. They could be friends for now, nothing more. Everything else could be figured out later, when Belle wasn’t potentially in therapy, and Gold himself wasn’t knee deep in secret plans to overthrow Regina Mills and her wretched rival company.

A knock on the door startled him, which was a surprise in and of itself. A man as aware of himself as his surroundings was really never startled by anything. All this had begun with Belle. As he called ‘come in’, Gold realised it was the very woman on his mind that was at the door.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Mr Gold,” she said politely, closing the door behind her.

She was ever mindful of what the other girls in the office might think, it was why she was here so early in hopes that he might be too. She had got to know Robert well enough to realise that he liked to work when he was worrying about things, to try to take his mind off them. After all that had passed between them recently, she had no doubts he would be here at some ridiculous hour, swamped by paperwork and figures. He proved her right, making Belle realise she really had learnt an awful lot about this man, more than she would ever tell Regina Mills, that was for sure.

“Belle, it’s a pleasure to see you,” he smiled genuinely, rising from his seat to greet her. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, much better, thank you,” she replied, returning his expression.

He gestured for her to sit down and then there they were, either side of the desk, both as awkward as each other. There was so much to say and yet nothing seemed right. Gold just wasn’t willing to say anything until he knew Belle’s opinion on their situation, whilst she knew exactly what must be done, she was just trying to muster the courage to say so.

When they finally did speak, it was all at once and over the top of each other. Nervous laughter followed on both sides, and then Robert said that Belle should go first, being the lady.

“I wanted to apologise” she said then, looking down at her hands in her lap. “Robert, I just… I felt so confused yesterday and Dr Hopper was so kind, I…”

“I don’t mind that you talked to him, Belle” Gold told her kindly. “Archie is more my employee than my friend, but I do trust his judgement and his discretion as a doctor.”

“He was very kind to me, and very helpful,” Belle admitted. “He made me realise that I was being foolish, and that in the end all I really needed to do was to follow my heart,” she smiled shyly as she glanced up to meet his eyes then. “Robert, I know this is awkward, our getting closer when we work together, and perhaps you don’t feel anything for me at all….”

“I do,” he cut in without really thinking, her own confession having spurred him on it seemed. “Belle, you know I look upon you in a better light than anyone else in this place. You have been my friend and confidante these last few weeks and months. You are much more than I deserve, I know, but I hardly know how I would do without you,” he confessed.

“Being friends is nice,” she agreed. “But it’s not what I really want for us. Robert, I know I shocked you with that kiss, and I’m sorry about that, but I meant all the feelings that came with it,” she told him bravely. “You have to realise how I feel.”

“Belle,” Gold shook his head. “I wish it were that simple, dearie. I know you care for me, I can’t think why, but I understand that you do. You know I have come to care for you as well, but... but I am at a loss as to where we go from here,” he admitted.

“I was at a loss too, until last night,” she smiled, reaching a hand across the desk to grasp his own. “This whole thing has been so… unconventional.”

She almost laughed at her own phrasing, hoping it did not sound as painful as it felt in her chest. Unconventional. Yes, indeed, their relationship had been that so far and probably always would be. She the grifter and him her mark, wherever they went from here was going to be a new and odd direction. Still, Belle was confident in what she was doing now, confident in the love she felt and in Robert Gold too. This was the right thing to do, she was certain.

“Belle?” he prompted, making her realise all too suddenly she had been quiet long enough in her thoughts.

“I think we should go on a date,” she said bravely, meeting his eyes. “Nothing big and scary, just a hamburger at the diner, maybe?”

There was a long pause in which Robert just stared back at her and Belle honestly wondered if she had rendered him completely speechless. He clearly hadn’t expected this from her, and Belle couldn’t blame him for being surprised. The both of them had been a little hot and cold with each other, but now was the time to change all that. She waited patiently for his answer and was a little relieved when he smiled.

“I would love to go to the diner with you, Belle,” he said honestly, perhaps with as much truth as he had ever said anything.

Gold meant to say no, he truly did. After days of trying to convince himself that dating a much younger woman who was also his employee, he ought to have had reasons enough to give as to why this was a very bad plan. Now the moment was here, Belle was sat across from him, bold as brass and smiling brightly. He was quite blinded by her beauty and the kindness of her heart. He loved her, as surely as he ever loved anyone, and he could say nothing to her but ‘yes’.

“I know it’s going to get complicated,” Belle admitted then, even as she let out a long breath she hardly knew she had been holding. “It might be that in time I have to leave Gold Industries, for the sake of not causing any more trouble than there needs to be, but it could be worth it, Robert.”

“Aye, I believe it could,” he replied with a smile, squeezing her hand on the desk. “You are the most amazing woman, Belle.”

It was years since she had genuinely blushed and yet she felt herself do so now under his gaze. Sure, she was still lying to Robert in a lot of ways. He did not know her real name or her original intentions in coming here, but everything she had said in the last few minutes about caring for him and wanting to date him, that was all very real. Using only true feelings to guide her, she felt so free and at ease, if not a little girlish and bashful right now.

“I should probably get back to work now,” she said, gently pulling her hand from his grasp.

“Belle?” he called to her just as she reached the door, yet when she looked back he didn’t seem to have anything to say. “Thank you, dearie,” he said eventually.

Though he hadn’t specified what he was thanking her for, Belle didn’t care to ask if he did not wish to elaborate. She could offer him the same thanks for the way he had come into her life and shown her what true love really was. Perhaps that was all he was doing now, she thought, as she stepped out of the boss’ office and went back to her desk.

* * *

It had been a strange day all in all. Belle wasn’t sorry to be done with it. Deciding to push forward in a genuine relationship with Robert Gold had been the best thing she could’ve done, she knew that. It didn’t really make for a less complicated life though. They had to hide how close they were at the office, and Ruby was already casting significant looks and asking a lot of questions. Belle steered her off the topic quite easily most of the time, asking after her grandmother, or complimenting her new boots.

It wasn’t forever. When Belle told Gold she may have to leave the company sometime soon, it was the truth. It would be partly because dating the boss was immoral. On the other hand, there was the fact she was going to have to reveal what she had really been doing there in the first place, as she turned the tables on Regina.

Belle hoped rather than believed that Robert would trust her when she told him she went into this con blind and now saw that he really was the love of her life. She had to lie longer than she wanted to, there was no choice. Robert had to understand that in the end, Belle told herself, and yet every time she tried a sinister voice in the back of her mind laughed at her naiveté, telling her what a fool she was allowing herself to be. She recalled Robert’s reaction to August all too clearly and sharply. He was devastated by a stranger, Belle dreaded to think what might happen if he found out about her true identity in the wrong way.

After their date, she hoped there would be more trust between them, an even stronger bond, and perhaps in a couple of weeks Belle would be in a position to tell Robert what was really going on. He already trusted her to a degree. In fact, Belle was almost certain he was as in love with her and she was with him. That being true, he had to try to understand her situation, to forgive her the sins she never really meant to commit.

Belle reached the door to her apartment with all these thoughts filling her head. Still, she was all too aware that something was wrong. The door had been opened, not by brute force but not by a key either. Someone had tripped the lock, she was sure of it, and beyond the door she could’ve sworn she heard voices. Immediately on her guard, she swung the door open, arms up and ready for a fight. She got the shock of her life when she saw who was there in her living room.

“David? Mary?” she gasped at the couple stood before her.

“Belle!” Mary rushed to hug her old friend who stood rooted to the spot in shock.

“I... I only emailed you yesterday,” she told them, sure they could never have got here so fast.

“Email?” checked David. “That’s not why we’re here,” he explained with a shake of his head.

“We got word there was trouble,” said Mary as she pulled away from Belle and met her eyes. “Belle, you’re in so much deeper than you know..”

“How do you know this?” she asked, completely bemused, until another person showed themselves. “August!” she gasped as he got up from the backward facing armchair and revealed his presence.

“Something didn’t feel right, Belle,” he told her. “And then I got my suspicions confirmed...”

All eyes shifted to the kitchen doorway as the final member of Belle’s old team stepped out with a cup and saucer carefully balanced in his hands.

“Oh, I hope you don’t mind me helping myself, Belle,” said Jefferson, sipping his tea. “I think we all have a lot to talk about.”


	25. Chapter 25

Belle was completely thrown to see all of her old team in her latest home. She knew that August was around, and she had tried to contact David and Mary, she just hadn’t expected them to be here so fast. She was glad to hear that they had not brought baby Emma into this mess, though she wondered about the safe place they had found for her whilst they were here. She dare not ask too much right now.

Jefferson was the biggest surprise, and Belle’s eyes grew wider every second as he explained how he had come to bring the team back together like this.

“I had to play both sides of the line, they didn’t give me a choice in that,” he told the assembled team from his place perched on the sideboard.

“A person always has a choice, Jefferson,” said Mary definitely. “When we walked away from each other, you could’ve done anything you wanted...”

“And what do I want, Snow?” he asked her crossly. “I only want what I can’t have! So, the only real choice for me if I was going to keep on living was to keep on working, doing what this team was built to do.”

His tone returned to a normal level and volume, and Belle was glad of it. Jefferson was always the live wire in their team, the only one she ever worried about with regards to stability. He was a good guy and she did trust him. Jefferson had saved her life more than once, and that she would never forget. At the same time, she knew that if he lost it, which he was prone to do, he could be dangerous.

“You worked for Gold and for Regina,” she said, bringing the conversation back on track. “Which one were you trying to bring down?”

“Would you believe both?” he smirked across at her. “Well, I hoped I could, eventually. In the beginning, I was only working for Gold, not because I wanted to, but it was a means to an end,” he explained quickly, when all of the others seemed ready to yell at him for his decision. “I thought I could use his resources to my own ends, access records and secrets of other businessmen that needed crushing, and at the same time bring Gold down too, from inside the belly of the beast. I had a false identity ready built, he never suspected, at least not for a very long time...”

“Tarrant Hatter,” said Belle out of the blue, not at all amused when Jefferson grinned at her, one finger on his nose and the other pointed right at her - she was right. “You worked at Gold Industries. The girls there, they told me that you went mad and committed suicide.”

“That’s what they were told,” he smirked, licking his lips as he talked of Belle’s fellow administrators. “It’s what the whole world was told actually. The truth was, Gold figured out who I was, what I might be up to. Instead of taking out his frustrations on me, I managed to talk him around. We agreed to work together against a mutual enemy. I became what you might call a double-agent.”

“And this was when your crazy plan became bringing down Gold and Regina?” asked David with wide eyes. “You’re good Jefferson, but you’re not that good.”

“Good enough that I doubt Regina suspected anything,” August considered from his spot in the armchair, “but then maybe that’s why she hired Belle and me? To break Gold before he could break her?”

There was a general discussion that started up, bickering and throwing heated opinions around. Belle let her ears switch off from it all. Now over the initial shock of her team being here, she could think a little more clearly about her situation. It was great that they were here, Mary and David, August and Jefferson. Between the five of them, they should be able to much more easily bring Regina to her knees, but Belle wondered how easy it would really be to explain her connection to Gold and his apparent innocence. He seemed so dark and evil from the outside. It was hard to believe that her team would ever listen if she tried to tell them he was good, much less that she loved him and he might indeed love her too. Hell, just today she had asked the guy out on a date!

“Belle?” said August, his hand at her knee getting her attention. “You okay?”

“No,” she admitted with a slight shake of her head. “I’m glad you’re all here. Honestly, I’ve wanted my team back for a while now, just as soon as things started to get so messy... I never did want to work for Regina,” she admitted, tears coming to her eyes that she wished she could fight back.

“We know that, sweetie,” said Mary kindly, looking genuinely sympathetic to her friend’s plight. “As soon as Jefferson realised you were the new grifter Regina hired to send after Gold, he called to rally the troops.”

Belle looked to Jefferson and found a watery smile. They got along, as the whole team did, but she never felt that she really understood the master hacker and thief. He was so odd sometimes, following the beat of his own drum, as some might say. Belle never was sure what Jefferson was thinking or what he might do next. On this occasion he had helped her, and it wasn’t the first time. Just as soon as he knew she may be in danger or might need help, he had made sure she got support. That meant a lot.

“Gold did suspect you actually, in the beginning,” he explained, moving his hat from hand to hand in some random gestures. “Apparently you were convincing enough that you won him round in the end.”

There was a look on his face when he said it, Belle would’ve sworn Jefferson knew more than he was saying. He wouldn’t keep his silence to spare her blushes, so he had to be hoping that he was forcing her to reveal everything herself. It was the only way, and Belle knew it too, however awkward or embarrassing.

“How close are you to this... beast?” asked David then, watching Belle’s expression shift through the entire spectrum of emotions, it seemed.

“I... I need to start from the beginning,” she said, ducking her head, her hair hiding her face from everyone.

Mary and David shared a look. As good a grifter as Belle was, she had a tough time lying to these people, her friends, her family.

“You care for him?” said August, sitting up straight and leaning forward with his elbows on his knees as he tried to see Belle’s face. “Do you, Belle?”

“Yes!” she replied suddenly and with such force that every person in the room jumped. “Yes, I care for him, but he is not the monster that we thought he was!” she yelled, making her point very clear.

She knew her team would all be shocked. It couldn’t possibly make sense to them, how a woman like her had come to fall for a man like Gold. They knew her reputation and that was mostly true, but what they knew of Robert was almost entirely fabricated. Whether Regina and her cronies had spread rumours or Gold himself had chosen to get himself a fake rep as a bad guy to help with his deals, Belle still didn’t know. All she could say for certain was that he wasn’t a beast, and it seemed to take a few moments for that to sink in with Mary, David, and August. Jefferson, on the other hand, was smiling.

“I know you got a bigger peek behind the curtain than I did,” he said, smirking still, “but I already had Gold figured out a while back. It’s true, he’s not some evil monster,” he shook his head as the others all turned their attention to him. “He’s not exactly a saint either, but hey, who amongst us can say we are?”

“He’s a manipulator! A shark!” said David definitely, pointing his finger hard into the coffee table to emphasise his point. “We’ve all heard the stories.”

“Stories can be exaggerated, even completely invented” Belle reminded him. “Are all the stories about you completely true?” she asked, knowing already that the answer was a definite no and David couldn’t deny it. “Yes, Gold has done some seemingly bad things. He’s exploited tax loopholes, thrown a few bribes around, but nothing any other normal everyday businessman hasn’t tried,” she explained. “I’m been through all his financials, everything I can lay my hands on, and believe me, that was a lot. He’s not a beast, he’s just a man, and deep down he’s a good man too.”

The look on Mary’s face was a picture to behold, and David’s matched it perfectly. Though they were grifters and thieves themselves, each person in this room had been driven to their crimes by circumstances far out of their control. In their hearts, they were good people, at least good enough. It was not so crazy to believe that Gold was not the bad person they thought. Belle knew it, and she realised now that they were starting to know it too.

“Gold may not be the evil little imp that he seems,” said August slowly, “but Regina is still as dark as she always was.”

“Agreed,” Belle nodded once. “If we work together, all of us, along with what I know from working with Robert... with Gold, we can bring Regal Corp to its knees and see Regina Mills put down for good,” she said definitely. “I’ve known for a while now that all I really needed to pull it off was my team,” she smiled then.

The others barely managed to return such a look, except for Jefferson. He was on her side for once. It almost never happened but it was happening now and right when Belle needed it most. Mary was still wearing a too serious expression, even when David and August began to agree that their best option was to work on collapsing Regina’s world and keeping Gold out of it. Belle knew what was distracting the only other woman in the room. Mary had noticed her slip, her use of Gold’s first name. When she said she cared for him, Belle knew that wasn’t enough to really prove she had fallen, but all the evidence together proved her heart was lost to a man that had long since been thought of as an enemy.

Belle couldn’t help but wonder what Robert was doing right now. She hoped he was thinking fondly of her for as long as he could. At some point in this unholy mess, the truth was bound to come out. So much for happiness, and the date the two of them had planned just this morning. That was once again a far off dream as a great barrier came up to block Belle’s view of any kind of happy ending. This giant hurdle was Regina and her ultimate destruction. At least she didn’t have to do it alone anymore.

* * *

Robert Gold was knee-deep in paperwork. Honestly, it didn’t all need his attention right now, especially not as the hour grew later all the time, but he had to do something. Forcing himself to concentrate on work was the only way to stop his mind wandering back to Belle every five minutes.

She had asked him out on a date. He still could not quite wrap his head around the concept, though he had happily accepted her invitation. It wasn’t that this was Belle, a beautiful young woman, asking for his company. It was that anyone, male or female, young or old, would choose him above all others to be their companion. There was no sense to such a decision as far as Robert Gold was concerned, and that train of thought led to self-pity and melancholy. He would not allow it, and so he worked through the mixed up thoughts.

The usual paperwork, the accounts and the contracts, it was almost too easy. Much of it was delegated anyway, leaving Gold with little to do but check what was already prepared at his instruction. Becoming restless and running out of tasks that must be done, he switched his attention to the icons on his computer desktop. He was always much happier with pen and paper than machines, but modern technology was vital these days and certainly had its advantages. Spying was an uncouth sort of a word for it, but it was true that big brother was watching at Gold Industries.

Flipping through some of the records, browser histories and call logs, Gold found  nothing of interest at first. He saw that Ruby couldn’t help but look at shoes whenever she had a free moment, and that Ashley on the front desk was a little too obsessed with finding half-naked pictures of Zac Efron, none of which either bothered or interested him. He saw that Archie called his psychologist associates often, most likely for second opinions, and that Leroy made personal calls, but mostly on his breaks. There was really nothing exciting or interesting for Gold to deal with, and then his cursor hovered over the icon tagged as Belle’s records.

Robert couldn’t really say what made him do it. Years of mistrust, especially when it came to women; the latest confusion and pain caused by a fake Baelfire in their midst. In a moment, he was opening up the full report of all Belle’s activities since she joined the company. There was really nothing incriminating in the websites she visited or calls she made. All had to do with work, every single one, and that was what really made Gold curious. Nobody was such a goody two shoes that they looked at nothing they shouldn’t, called no-one that wasn’t a work contact. It was almost as if she were trying to cover something up. As much as he hated himself for thinking such things, Gold couldn’t help it. Immediately he started digging a little deeper, pulling up lists of every file Belle had ever accessed on the servers. Lists and lists of data scrolled across the screen, so many more documents than she never could’ve needed to look at, in areas she would have no reason to stray to.

Robert’s brow furrowed with confusion and no small hint of anger. Something was not right here, and instinct made him want to smash everything in his path until he got to the truth. He all but leapt to his feet, regretting it as his ankle reacted with a flare of pain. It gave him a moment to pause and to breathe. No, if he went in all guns blazing, accusing Belle when he really had no evidence, it could ruin everything. He was probably being paranoid and ridiculous. He had to be, there was no way she could be this terrible person, not his Belle.

Lowering himself back into the chair, Gold thought over his options. He spun a ring on his finger in some nervous or frustrated habit that made no sense. Belle could have been looking where she shouldn’t out of idle curiosity. She may even have strayed into the wrong areas of the system by mistake. Gold couldn’t decide if he genuinely believed that or was just making excuses to salve his breaking heart. If Belle was what he had once thought she may be - a traitor sent by Regina - then it might just kill him to face that truth. On the other hand, his paranoia was both a blessing and a curse to him. If he was wrong and accused her, then he would lose Belle through his own actions, his own fault.

Serious thought had to be applied, Gold knew, before he made any kind of move. One thing was for sure, he couldn’t concentrate on this paperwork anymore, or his computer screen. He needed a drink, a large one, and ultimately a friend to talk to. Shame then that the one he immediately thought of was out of bounds, because the only name that sprang to mind was Belle herself.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I’m finally getting somewhere with this fic, now that the team are back and all. Really hope I can keep it rolling to the end. I estimate another 15 chapters or so to come yet! Please keep the feedback coming - it helps! :)

“I never knew you to be in a kitchen this long,” Mary smiled as she came to find Belle.

She had offered to fetch snacks and drinks for her team almost half an hour ago and never returned. Mary found her with the cupboard door open, staring blankly in at the contents. There was far too much on her mind, and Mary knew they needed to talk about that, preferably away from the guys.

“I don’t know what’s the matter with me,” Belle sighed, slamming the door shut and putting her face in her hands.

“Yes, you do,” Mary told her, coming over and pulling those hands away. “Belle, sweetie, I know that look in your eyes because I used to wear it myself. I never planned to fall in love, especially not with a guy like David,” she admitted in a quiet voice that only her friend would hear. “I was scared and confused, I didn’t know what to think or even what to feel. That’s how it is for you, since you fell in love with Gold, right?”

Belle opened her mouth to reply but no sound came out. Her brow furrowed with a hundred mixed up responses, none of which seemed right. It was true enough that she had fallen, and very true that it confused and bothered her. Somehow talking to Mary about it was the worst part, when in reality all she had wanted for weeks now was to have a friend to turn to, to share with, to tell her everything would be okay. Maybe the real fear was that Mary wouldn’t do that, wouldn’t be able to give comfort and support, only tell Belle what a fool she had become since the team last disbanded.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen, Snow,” she sighed heavily. “I never wanted to work for Regina in the first place, and then when I tried to be close to Gold for the con’s sake, I just...” she floundered for a way to properly explain herself. “He’s so charming, and he can be really sweet and kind. It’s hard to make you understand when you don’t know him, but I swear, he’s a different man when it’s just the two of us.”

“I do understand,” Mary nodded slowly and gave an encouraging smile. “You know David, his reputation for being all confident and brash sometimes. Even with the team he put on the persona, but y’know, behind closed doors, just me and him, he can be so insecure and so vulnerable. Nobody would ever believe that side of the great Charming exists, but it does,” she explained. “If that can be true of him, why can’t Gold be a good guy underneath it all?”

Belle smiled, grateful for her friend's understanding. She ought to remember how easily her team would trust her judgement, they always had before. The bond between hem seemed to be as strong as ever, despite time apart, and Belle was glad enough for Mary to pull her into a sisterly hug right now.

“I missed you,” she declared. “All of you, more than I ever thought I would.”

“And we missed you too,” Mary promised her. “I mean, when I wasn’t so busy with being pregnant and starting to raise a baby.”

“Oh, poor little Emma without her parents!” Belle suddenly gasped. “Please tell me she’s definitely safe, Snow. I’d feel terrible if I thought she was in danger because of me...”

“She’s fine. She will be,” she smiled bravely. “I miss her, obviously, but she’s in a safe place, I promise.”

The girls were soon getting back to their original mission in the kitchen, mindful of the guys asking questions before too long. They emerged with all the snack food they could conjure up, to find that August, Jefferson, and David were still bickering about the best way forward in their plan against Regina. When Belle realised she was the main focus on their indecision she began to get angry.

“We have to pull Belle out of Gold Industries,” David insisted. “Its too dangerous for her to stay there.”

“But she’s already in, and with the perfect cover,” countered August. “We’ve already established, Gold isn’t the threat here.”

“True,” Jefferson nodded once. “But if he does realise who Belle really is, as close as they’ve gotten...”

“He’ll hate me,” said Belle in a moderated tone, though it had a sharp steely edge that they’d all heard before. “If and when he realises who and what I really am... I dread to think how he’ll react, but it doesn’t change anything,” she said definitely. “You can all have your opinions on how we run this con now, and that’s fine, but nobody decides my fate but me,” she told them all with a determined look.

“She’s right,” Mary agreed easily. “If Belle wants to stay where she is then she will and if she wants out, we’ll make that work. She’s been in the middle of this from the start, David,” she said when he looked set to argue. “We’re here to help, not make her life more complicated.”

“Agreed,” Jefferson nodded again, as August conceded and did the same.

“Fine,” huffed David, clearly not all that happy about it. “Belle takes point, we fall in behind.”

He was not in the least bit pleased, and they all knew it. David liked to be in control, large and in charge. His Charming persona meant he usually got his way. If he didn’t, it was often as not because Snow told him no. Belle was very grateful to have her sister-in-arms on her side in this one.

“You’re wearing the crown, Belle,” said August with a lop-sided grin. “What’s our play?”

Belle took a deep breath. She would love to outline a plan right now, if only she had a definite one.

* * *

It was strange how comfortable Belle could feel some days at Gold Industries. Sure, it was all supposed to be a con, but she had put so very much of herself into the character of Isabelle Hart. It was getting harder all the time to find the line where she ended and Belinda French began. As she fell harder for Robert Gold, she revealed more of her true self, and instead of being terrifying, it felt oddly freeing. There were that many less lies to remember when she let the truth out. A simple concept, perhaps, but one Belle hadn’t considered in years. Most days, she came into the office, played her part as simple administrator, amongst genuine friends and with a man she could honestly say she loved now; Belle felt comfortable. Unfortunately, today she was far from easy here in the headquarters of Robert’s company.

The team were still in Belle’s building. There was an empty apartment two floors up from her own, and it hadn’t taken much to get a fake name on the lease and for the four of them to hide out there. It was temporary accommodation until they worked out exactly how they were going to go about bringing down Regina Mills. In the meantime, Belle had to come to work as if everything were normal, even though she already felt as if she were walking through the office block bearing a neon sign that proclaimed she was a fraud. It was only thanks to years of perfectly honed skills as a grifter than she didn’t give herself away.

Ruby and the girls treated her much as they always had, and Belle soon fell into routine. Robert didn’t show his face the whole morning, and Belle was equal parts glad and distressed by the fact. She was here for her job, to keep her cover, but at the same time she had a task to perform. The team wanted to know how to move forward, what Belle’s plan was. She told them the truth, that she didn’t really have one until she figured out Robert’s position. Her whole strategy hinged on which was the greater, his love for her, his hatred for Regina, or his abhorrence of being taken for a fool. This she hoped to find out on the date she had asked him about. They needed to fix on an evening, sooner rather than later. Belle hated that their special occasion was to become part of a con. It was never her intention, but since the team showed up, the gas pedal was getting very firmly pressed. They had to get this done, before Regina got suspicious, before any of them were discovered and their covers blown.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” said Gold when he suddenly appeared, and Belle jumped a little in her seat.

“Good afternoon, Mr Gold,” the girls all chorused as he swept through to his own private office.

“A word please, Belle?” he asked of her, tapping the edge of her desk with his cane as he went by.

Belle didn’t say a word, just got up and followed, her notepad and pen in her hand on automatic. The truth was he probably didn’t want to speak to her about work at all, but for appearances sake she had to make it look professional. The lie inside the lie seemed even worse than the original somehow, especially when Belle caught Ruby frowning at her out of the edge of her vision. She shook it off - there wasn’t time to worry.

“What can I do for you, Mr Gold?” asked Belle politely.

“You can come and sit down first of all,” he smiled, though there was something in that look that wasn’t quite as comforting as some of his smiles had been before.

Belle was sure she was being paranoid. There was no way Robert could know anything, or even suspect. She had been careful all the time, and though it was true that a big change had occurred last night when her team arrived on the scene, he couldn’t know that. It would be impossible, surely.

“Now, dearie. You put a proposition to me yesterday,” he said, folding his hands on the desk. “We agreed to a date but never a time or an exact place,” he noted.

“Yes, I wanted to speak to you about that,” she smiled back warmly, hoping any hint of worry that may yet show through could only be construed as girlish nerves on her part. “I, er... I’ve never asked a man out on a date before,” she laughed lightly. “I’m still a little shocked at myself... Oh, but I don’t regret it,” she rushed out, when she realised how it might sound.

“Well, I am glad to hear that,” Robert told her with a relieved grin. “But let me step in and act as the man should in such a situation,” he said, reaching to cover her hand with his on the desk. “Miss Hart, how would it be if I took you to dinner tomorrow evening? Perhaps I could pick you up at six o’clock?”

Belle met his eyes and looked deep. She was sure she saw love, so sure that it made her shiver all the way from head to toe. She wanted this so badly, this date, this love. It ought to be real, all of this should, and then life would be that much more simple to cope with. Damn herself for being more than she seemed. Damn Robert Gold for being so charming and wonderful. Damn Regina all the more for putting them in this situation in the first place.

“That sounds wonderful” she smiled at last. “But we agreed on the diner for a burger, didn’t we? Nothing fancy.”

“As you wish,” Robert nodded once.

She stood to leave a moment later. She had work to do and so did he, there was no use in lingering and such a thing would only raise suspicion. Belle was half way to the door when a thought struck her. She turned, crossed back to the desk and rounded it without stopping. Robert looked bemused, but didn’t say a word. Honestly, he hardly got the chance before Belle’s lips met his in a sweet kiss. His hand went instinctively to her face, keeping her close when she might move away. The kiss went on a few seconds more, and then when they parted neither knew what to say.

Belle had no breath left in her body, despite the brief time she had been kissing Robert. There were no words she could find to say, no explanation she could give. All she knew was that she had to seal this love between them, ensure he knew how very real it was, even if she had to confess sooner rather than later that every other aspect of their relationship was based on a lie.

A second later she was rushing for the door and out of it before Robert could ever speak, never mind get to his feet and give chase. Now more than ever he thought, Isabelle Hart was a singular young woman, and one he had been so privileged to meet. She cared so much for him, it was clear from her looks, her words, the way she kissed him. Robert Gold wondered how he ever could have doubted for a moment that she was anything but genuine and real in her affections, even in her character. Belle was one of the most honest, kind-hearted people he ever met in his life, and he was a fool to think anything else.

* * *

“I can’t believe that all our planning, our entire con, is riding on how well your date goes with Robert Gold,” said David, clearly exasperated but trying not to be angry.

Belle was doing her best in all this, and it wasn’t as if Charming didn’t understand what it was to fall for the most unlikely and perhaps the most inappropriate person. If Belle said Gold was not what he seemed, that he could be a good man and that she loved him, well, then he trusted her judgement. It really did bother him though that everything was hanging in the balance on the strength of how well a date went.

“I would be crude and suggest that if you seduced the old guy, our lives might be easier,” said Jefferson, as if it were a perfectly reasonable thing to come out with. “I said I would say that” he rolled his eyes as he noticed everyone staring at him with shock. “I’m not going to,” he ensured them, biting down on his pizza slice.

“Gold doesn’t strike me as the type to be swayed so easy,” August shook his head. “He really must believe everything you’ve told him, Belle. He trusted you over me, and I was supposed to be his beloved son.”

“He does seem to trust you an awful lot from what you’ve told us,” Mary considered. “But if you risk telling him the truth, do you really think he’ll be okay with it? I mean, I know you said a lot of his reputed non-qualities aren’t genuine, but what about his temper?” she asked carefully.

“I’ve seen him get mad about things,” Belle admitted, at which August snorted because he’d seen it too of course, and mad didn’t even begin to cover it. “I don’t think he’d actually attack me, even when he knows everything. He might be angry, yell and such, but that’s all. I told you, he’s not a monster,” she repeated what they all seemed to be having trouble understanding.

Belle couldn’t blame her team for their misgivings. She was sure she would be just the same in their shoes. It seemed ridiculous, it was ridiculous that she should have fallen for the mark like this, especially one who was twice her age with such a terrible reputation. She never saw it coming, but it had happened and all they could do now was try their best to work around it.

“Speaking of monsters,” said Belle as the cell phone on the table started to ring.

It had been there when she got home, which meant it had to be Regina. She had assembled the team for two reasons this evening, to tell them what had happened with Gold and so they were there when Regina called again. Jefferson had hooked the cell up to a speaker phone, and Belle ensured everyone was tight-lipped before she accepted the call.

“What do you want?” she asked sharply, at which Regina let out her usual witch's cackle of a laugh.

“Really, Miss Hart, it amazes me how you manage to charm men so easily when your tone is often so unpleasant,” she crooned. “But of course, that wasn’t the reason for my call. The clock is ticking, Miss Hart. I gave you a month and I meant what I said about consequences if you don’t follow through.”

“You have to give me a chance,” Belle replied crossly. “You only gave me the new deadline last week…”

“I’m aware of when I gave it to you,” Regina snapped back. “I’m also aware of certain movements of your old colleagues, dare I even say friends?”

At that Belle’s eyes darted up and she looked around the room at those very people whom Regina spoke of. Swallowing down the sick feeling in her throat, she tried to keep her cool. Regina couldn’t know they were all here. Maybe August, but that was only because she sent him herself.

“Be warned, Miss Hart, that if I find out you are trying to double-cross me, the consequences will be beautifully catastrophic,” she said definitely then. “I am not to be trifled with.”

At that the line went dead, and Belle hated that she felt hot tears filling her eyes. She wasn’t at all surprised when Charming’s fist hit the table in anger, or when Jefferson abandoned his now unwanted food. They ought to have known better. Of course Regina knew something was going on and she was preparing accordingly. She knew Belle’s ways, the whole team in fact. Just about the only thing they had on her was Jefferson being alive, and that was never going to be enough.

“This isn’t going to work,” August shook his head, earning a disapproving look from Mary. “I’m sorry but Regina has a point. She knows Belle too well now, and me too. She did her research back on that first job we pulled, the five of us, we’re not going to be able to get past her. She’s probably been watching us this whole time. She can second-guess any strategy we can come up with, and she knows all our faces.”

They all wanted to argue, but nobody dared, because he had a point. Regina was crafty, sneaky, probably had her people watching every move the five of them made, Belle in particular it seemed, for her own nefarious reasons. Whatever con they tried to pull, she would see it coming.

“Okay,” said Snow after a moment of silence. “If we can’t do anything she won’t second guess, then we bring in people she doesn’t know.”

“Are you serious?” asked David, looking surprised but not as confused as the rest. “You think they’ll help us? After all this time?”

“They’ve been out of the game a while but they always said if I needed them to call and they’d be here,” she shrugged. “They all owe us a favour in their different ways.”

“I’m sorry, who are we talking about now?” asked Belle, completely confused.

Mary stood up and moved to the flip chart in the corner on which they had been making notes and plans before. She took up the pen and wrote straight down - R, G, B.

“Red, green, and blue?” Jefferson checked, tilting his head as he watched and waited.

“Actually yes,” Snow smiled tightly, putting in the extra letters to spell out each colour. “These are code names for people I used to know. I don’t know where they are now, but I know how to get a hold of them.”

“Are they like us?” asked August, his meaning clear - were they grifters and thieves or not.

“No, not entirely,” Snow admitted with a shake of her head. “But they’re smart and we can trust them,” she explained as she added their real names to the board.

“You’re joking!” gasped Belle, her eyes going wide as she read those names, recognising every single one - Ruby Lucas, Archie Hopper, and Nurse Reul Ghorm. “They all work for Gold Industries!” she exclaimed as all eyes turned to her. “I know them all”.

 


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Making this fic all twisty & turny and all kinds of complicated might please all of you, but I’m slowly giving myself a headache! lol It is at least nice to know that you appreciate all my efforts if you leave feedback, you’re awesome :)

First dates were always nerve-wracking. There was the worry you’d make a fool of yourself, not be dressed appropriately, say the wrong thing. Belle had infinitely more worries than these as she fixed her hair and checked her make up before her first official date with Robert Gold. It was no wonder that her hands were shaking. This night of theirs ought to be perfect. Two people falling in love with each other, going out to a diner for a simple meal, to talk and enjoy each other’s company. Unfortunately, as true as her heart was when it came to Robert, Belle was telling so many lies as well, both to Gold and to herself.

There was a plan in place, or rather there was a plan that would lead to a plan. Much of it hinged on what happened both on Belle’s date with Robert, and in the apartment upstairs. It was strange to think of the gathered group a couple of floors above her head now. The old team she had trusted so much - David, Mary, August, Jefferson - plus three people she had worked closely with at Gold Industries, never realising they also knew the woman they called Snow - Ruby, Archie, and Nurse Ghorm. They hadn’t known Belle was an old associate either, but that was probably a good thing. Now they had the truth of the matter, and they were being dragged into this whole con whether they liked it or not.

Belle wasn’t sure who she felt worst for right now. Partly the expanded team, partly herself, but most of all she suspected she felt bad for Robert. He was a good man underneath it all, and yet this whole con was going to tear his life apart, whether they liked it or not. Belle loved him and she hoped what she felt for him and his own affection for her would be enough to see them through. She hoped it, but it was hard to really believe.

She was out on the sidewalk when Robert arrived in his Cadillac. Immediately he admonished her for being out in the cold when he could just as easily have come to her door. Belle forced a smile and shook her head, promising she was fine.

“I needed a little fresh air anyway,” she assured him. “It’s a beautiful night.”

“Aye, it is,” he agreed, smiling back at her then, finding her own expression infectious. “But not half so beautiful as you, dearie.”

It was a cliché sort of a line, and yet Belle did believe he meant it. When he leaned in to kiss her cheek, she almost felt herself blushing. It was ridiculous, after all the years she had spent grifting her way through life, being charmed and courted by every kind of man. There was something entirely different about this, about knowing it was real, or as close to real as it could be in the circumstances.

“You want me to drive?” asked Belle then, knowing she was the one who had taken them to the diner last time since she knew the way, that night after the charity ball.

“If you like,” Robert nodded once, handing over the keys, then moving the open the car door for her.

He was such a gentleman, so sweet and kind to her. It broke Belle’s heart to know what the truth would do to him. August’s turn as Baelfire had brought pain enough, and prolonging this agony seemed even worse somehow, but it was necessary. It wasn’t only that she and her extended team needed to know where they stood for the con, it was for Belle too. She needed this night, one good evening in the company of the man she loved, before everything potentially fell apart.

Driving to the diner didn’t take long and she handled the car with ease. Robert complimented her on her skill, saying he knew it was an old-fashioned and unpopular opinion, but he knew very few women drivers that he would trust with his car. Belle told him he flattered her and tried to concentrate on the road ahead, both literally and figuratively. The night was off to a good start but there were bound to be bumps before long.

Pulling into the parking lot outside the diner, Belle turned off the engine and moved as if to get out of the car. Robert’s hand on her arm stopped her and she looked back with questioning eyes.

“Belle, I… Before we go inside, I think there is something I have to say to you,” he told her shakily.

The way he was looking at her was so intense, it gave her the shakes, but Belle couldn’t look away. She was holding her breath and therefore had no voice to speak, only nodding for him to go on and say whatever it was he felt was so important. Robert took a deep breath as if to steady himself for what came next, and Belle had a sudden panic as she realised he might know everything. Surely he couldn’t be this calm and collected if he knew. She could not believe he would keep up a pretence, get her to drive out here like this so they were alone in the dark if he knew. The shivering through her body doubled and for far less pleasant reasons as she waited for him to speak.

“Belle, I… I have not always been the man I should be,” he confessed. “There have only ever been two women in my life before now that I was close to, and perhaps only one I can say that I truly loved with all my heart,” he explained. “Both those women left me, and whilst I admit they were not solely to blame for the breakdown of our relationships… What I mean to say is, Belle, that I have been hurt, and yet I am aware that part of the reason why I was abandoned by those women was of my own doing,” he said sadly, a hand over his heart. “I am no saint, no prince either.”

“Nobody’s perfect,” said Belle, trying to keep the shake out of her voice but it was so difficult right now.

To hear Robert speak of the pains he had suffered at the hands of unworthy women, and here she was now fast becoming a third for his list. She didn’t deserve him, and yet he was practically telling her that he was the undeserving one. Belle wanted to cry, and hoped that if she did he would not suspect her real reason. Surely, he couldn’t. He would just think she was affected by the emotions he spoke with. To speak the truth, that was at least half her problem.

“I’m far from perfect, Belle,” Robert shook his head and glanced away. “I have been a selfish man, sometimes a cruel man to those I should’ve cherished,” he explained. “My wife left me, and my son. I could not bear to… to let myself hurt you.”

“You won’t,” she promised. “And I would certainly never want to leave you. You have to believe that,” she told him, a hand going automatically to his face the moment he looked away again. “Robert, I… I never expected when I met you that I would fall in love like this, but I have. I’ve fallen so fast and so hard. You made me believe true love exists,” she smiled a watery smile as tears streamed from her eyes. “I have to thank you for that.”

He smiled back at her, marvelling at the beauty of her face and her words both. She was everything a man could want, and much more than Gold could deserve, he was sure of it. Yet she was here, and she was telling him she had fallen in love. His own confession came as a surprise to both of them, not because he didn’t mean it or know he felt it, just that he never meant to tell her this soon.

“I love you, Belle. I never meant for it to happen either,” he shook his head slightly. “But you are the most amazing woman ever to come into my life.”

Belle couldn’t stand it, she just had to be kissing him then. She leant in and let her lips find his, falling deep into a moment she never wanted to get out of. She hoped this was enough, that her truthful confession and passionate embrace were enough to make him understand how real this was. When she came to confessing the truth about everything else, or worse, if Robert found out on his own, Belle needed him to hold on to this moment, and told him as much in the vaguest way she could.

“Whatever happens with us later, promise me you’ll remember this moment,” she whispered when their kiss ended but they remained close enough that their foreheads touched still. “If we hold on to it, then nothing else matters. Nothing can ever come between us as long as we believe in true love.”

“I promise,” he told her in a whisper, sealing their deal with another searing kiss.

* * *

“I had no idea,” Archie said for maybe the fifth time as he downed his second stiff drink. “I mean, when Belle came to me with her problems... she was so convincing.”

“She’s a professional,” said August, taking the empty glass from the psychiatrist’s hand - somehow he didn’t look like he could hold his drink.

“She is, but Archie, whatever Belle told you about herself and Gold was probably true,” advised Mary. “I know it’s shocking and confusing. I know you’re not a fan of the work we do...”

“It’s a means to an ends, Snow, I always understood that,” her old friend assured her. “Honestly, I don’t know what your opinion is, but I believe Belle is in love, and that potentially, Mr Gold is too.”

“I never thought him capable of such an emotion,” said Reul, with a dainty shake of her head. “But I shall admit, he showed a great deal of care for your friend Belle when I was present. Perhaps it is possible that they really are in love.”

David commented that the love between Belle and Gold was a fairly moot point for now. It would make a difference to their plans moving forward, but they still had to pool all their resources here and see what they had to work with.

It seemed like quite the coincidence that these three people had all wound up working for Gold Industries, but it wasn’t. Reul Ghorm actually got Archie his job when his private practise began to fail thanks to a plot by Regina herself. He had been a key player in getting Henry back to Emma on the team’s first job, and she had to make someone pay. As for Ruby, that really was more of a coincidence. She came to be at Gold’s company via her grandma knowing Archie from way back when they were neighbours. The fact she was an old friend of Snow’s too, it was almost unbelievable, and yet life just had a way of throwing these odd twists and connections at Snow and Charming.

Ruby herself wasn’t really listening to anything anyone else was saying. Her eyes were fixed on Jefferson across the room. She had known this man as Tarrant Hatter, her colleague, her supervisor at the office. He pretty much ran things until Mr Gold decided to come over to the U.S. and take more control. That had been when Hatter went crazy and committed suicide, at least that was the story they had all been told. Ruby was still in shock that it was untrue.

“Not that I would normally object, but the staring is getting a little creepy now, Red,” he teased her.

“What do you expect?” she asked, one perfectly curved eyebrow rising. “I was told you were dead. Crazy, and then dead,” she clarified.

“Not dead,” he said pointlessly, arms spread wide as if showing her proof of the fact. “Crazy? Well, that’s objective,” he told her with a smirk that was so familiar to her.

Ruby might’ve laughed if the situation were just as light as he made it seem. As it was a strange smile appeared on her lips. David was quick to have it removed.

“We need to concentrate,” he said definitely, calling order to the meeting. “Any information you have on Gold? We need it. Any ideas you have regarding Regina? We need those too.”

It was brainstorming time, it was what they were all here for. Any ideas were welcome and Snow got up to stand ready by the flip chart, pen in hand, to take notes. Jefferson reached for his tablet and scrolled through to the best of his own information, whilst August pulled a sheaf of paper from his backpack.

If they all put together everything they knew, there was a chance they could come up with an angle that would work. The information about Gold wasn’t necessarily going to help much in catching Regina, but there might yet be something they could exploit. Honestly, Charming was still looking for a way to bring both their asses to justice. Belle said she loved Gold, that he wasn’t a monster. It would be nice to believe in that particular fairytale, but David couldn’t quite do it, at least not yet.

* * *

“You do know I would’ve taken you to any of the finest restaurants in town,” said Robert, looking down at the burger and fries he had just been served.

“I do know that,” Belle nodded, smiling sweetly. “But I’d feel out of place there, too overly cautious about what I said or did. It’s more relaxing here,” she told him, even though it was difficult to fully let herself go in the circumstances.

This diner was a safe place that she knew. Her cover was established here, and it was as low key and comfortable as this date was ever going to get. In deep conversation, all smiles and such, it was easier for Belle to forget her purpose, forget how she had come to meet Robert in the first place and why. Unfortunately, every other little thing reminded her and it was a genuine effort not to tense up or look sad in front of him.

“I wonder then how you would get on at my home in Scotland,” he said thoughtfully. “Quite a stately place, you know. Not that I had company often, but there was enough room for as many guests as you pleased.”

Belle watched his face as he continued to talk about the Gold ancestral home in his mother country. There was a light in his eyes that she never saw at any other time, except perhaps once or twice when he was looking at her and telling her how much he cared for her. They had spoken words of love tonight, words she meant and was sure he did too. Now he was waxing lyrical on what must be practically a castle in proportions and age, as if it were the perfect family home.

Belle allowed herself a little daydream, a scene in the future that would almost definitely never be. Herself and Robert, in a large sitting room by the fireside, a couple of contended children asleep upstairs, and all the love a family could ever want or need.

“I’d love to see it,” she said aloud, every word true even if it would prove to be unfair when he learnt the truth.

“And I would love to show it to you,” Robert assured her, reaching a hand across the table to cover hers. “You have quite bewitched me, Belle. I never thought such a thing could happen to me again, and yet…”

He paused to think of the right words to say, but never got a chance to speak them as their quiet reverie was interrupted. Belle flinched at the sight of Killian Jones approaching the table. What a man like him would be doing in a place like this she couldn’t conceive. She did not like that she could never quite establish what his business was with Gold Industries. It was well-known that the two businessmen did not get along, but then it was equally as well-known that Robert Gold was some kind of monster when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.

“Mr Gold” Jones greeted him with a smile that reminded belle of a crocodile. “And Miss…French, isn’t it?”

He was still grinning, even as Belle blanched at the use of her real name. Nobody should know that, least of all Killian Jones. Regina hadn’t even known it, or if she had she never said so. Noise distorted and her vision blurred, this could not be happening, not now. Gold cast a look her wary that she barely saw and then he was telling Killian Jones he was quite wrong, and his date’s name was Isabelle Hart. The younger man apologised immediately, looking as if he were embarrassed, but Belle didn’t know quite whether to believe him. He reached for her hand and kissed her knuckles, apologising again for misremembering her name and then for interrupting their evening. He needed to speak to Gold but it would wait until tomorrow, he said, waving away his own mistakes.

Belle fought to breathe as Killian and Robert spoke a few more words and then Jones walked away. Her heart was hammering in her chest and bile rose in her throat. She hoped with all her might that Robert didn’t ask her if she was okay, or question the use of a name that was truly her own. Neither wish was answered.

“Are you alright, Belle?” he asked her immediately Killian was gone. “I know Jones is a knave and a scoundrel, but I’m sure he meant no real harm to you. He knows much better than that.”

“I’m fine,” she forced out, swallowing hard, picking up her soda and gulping at it in the hopes it would help. “I just... I don’t think I trust him. He makes me uneasy,” she said quickly, hoping against hope that she sounded genuine.

“Strange effect for him to have” Robert considered. “Many a woman falls at the feet of the charming arse,” he continued to mutter, though Belle barely heard.

She thought she had perhaps covered her near-panic attack well enough, but her mind was still reeling. It would be a very strange coincidence for Jones to pick her real last name of all those in the world, if he didn’t know it to be truly her own. Robert seemed unaffected by the mistake, so he couldn’t realise what had just happened. It didn’t matter, he knew something was wrong, and that was enough to give Belle cause for concern.

“I wonder where he got the name of French from?” said Robert, more to himself than to Belle, and yet his eyes flitted to her enough to see her squirm one more time.

That name meant something, he was certain of it, though he dare not question her further. Still, after this date was done, he planned to do a little research, just to be on the safe side.

Robert did not want to think for a moment that Belle was any more than what she seemed. After all, his words of love to her were true enough, but he was naturally paranoid and far too smart for his own good. For now he would continue as if everything were as it was before, but the voice in the back of Gold’s head wouldn’t be kept quiet long. He was slowly forming a whole list of reasons to look more deeply into the life of Isabelle Hart, and he certainly was going to have to look, at the very next opportunity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, here comes the bad news. This story is going on a mini-hiatus for the duration of December and will return in the new year. I do this every year with the work in progress fics because I write & post a lot of Christmas-related, exchange, and gift fics in December, plus I have RL stuff going on. I’m sorry to anyone this disappoints, but I will be back in the new year and this fic will continue and ultimately be finished eventually.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, anyone remember me? Yeah, I know, 3 months is a loooong time, right? Well, I'll be honest, I was feeling generally uninspired by this fic, and then I stumbled upon a chapter just sitting there on my hard-drive. It was all but complete, unbetaed, and I'm not even sure when I wrote it, but I cleaned it up, my beta cast an eye over it, and here it is for your reading pleasure. Sorting out this stray chapter seems to have kick-started my muses, and hey, I make no promises, but it could lead to the story coming off hiatus rather sooner than I thought! :) If you're still around, still reading, still care, please leave a comment and let me know!

When a man had money and power, there were few doors that would not open to him, especially when forced. Robert Gold was such a man and often felt pleased about it. Today of all days, he almost wished he were not so feared and respected, that answers were not so easily discovered. The plain and simple truth about Isabelle Hart, that was what Gold had come looking for today, and it seemed he may well have found it, it just wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

All possible explanations had been accounted for when Gold started to look into the name Belle French and realised she was in fact a person that existed. The spelling he had assumed proved to be faulty, as the real first name was actually Belinda, but that was by the by. She wore Belle’s face, and so they must be one and the same. That meant lies and deceit, things Robert had been loathed to accuse her of the more he fell in love with her, and yet, here was proof that something was amiss.

So many excuses could be made, and for both their sakes, Gold looked into them all. Could it be a strange coincidence, or perhaps a case of twins separated at birth, one gone good and the other bad? No, there was nothing to salve the wound forming in his heart. He had been betrayed and deceived, and the more evidence he found from Belinda French’s life the more he realised his own foolishness.

She was a suspected thief and a grifter. There was a bounty on her head in more than one country, and aliases galore that went with her face. Belle, his dear sweet girl, was nothing more than a common criminal, and yet no matter how many times he read the evidence of it, Robert couldn’t believe. He did not want to believe, neither in his own naiveté or Belle’s ability to be so low, so cruel. Just when he had truly started to think he had found love again, all hope seemed loss. If he were a lesser man, Robert would cry. In fact, he might just anyway behind the closed doors of his own home. After that, of course, there would be consequences. He had to fully decide yet how to broach the matter with Belle herself but he would not let this stand, he could not. The only thing he had yet to fully discover was what her plan was here, what her goal might be in getting close to him. All offers to be lavish had been turned down, she seemed awkward in accepting any gifts or even praise. If money was what she craved, Belle could have managed it a lot more easily. Business secrets was the only other idea Gold could conjure, but once again, she could have got what she needed and been long gone by now if that was all she wanted. For some reason, Belle was planning a long game, it seemed. He just couldn’t figure out why.

There was a quiet voice inside Robert's mind, murmuring childish falsehoods about true love and such. He would not listen. There was no way a woman like Belle could truly be in love with him, he had thought as much from the start. Slowly, she had made him start to believe in this connection between them, but no more. Now Gold knew exactly what she was and told himself forcefully that he would never trust her again, never be so easily led.

This is perhaps what hurt the most. Knowing that it must be his choice to send her away. Though here was proof of what she was, who she was, what she was capable of, Gold knew when he saw Belle stood before him again, he would still love her. Such feelings did not vanish in a poof of smoke just because he knew the truth now, they could never, and it would be foolish indeed to believe they ever would. Even criminals could fall in love, Gold was sure of it, since it was true enough that even men like him, seemingly so hard and cold, could be charmed by the right woman.

It was stupid, sentimental teenage thinking to allow himself to believe for a moment that Belle’s feelings were real. The truth was she was playing him for her own ends, whatever they might be. He half expected to find evidence that she was mixed up with Regina Mills, though none came to light. What he did stumble across, thanks to his various contacts and forceful questioning, was that Belle was part of a team once. There had been rumours about a group hell-bent on taking down businesses and rich men that the law couldn't touch, for the sake of the poor unfortunates being down-trodden in technically legal ways. That team had a woman amongst their members that matched Belle's description and a man that could easily be Jefferson. Closer inspection showed another who could yet be the mystery person who called himself after Gold's son when he showed up here a while ago. They were all in this together, and Robert's blood boiled in his veins at the realisation of it.

“You little madam,” he muttered, much worse words coming to mind but never making it past his lips as he read further.

Of course, the fact Belle was technically a career criminal didn’t actually prove she was lying when she said she loved him. It was just that much more likely, given the circumstances, that she was playing him for a fool. The problem Gold was having was understanding what the end game was in all of this. If they were working for Regina, that might make sense, but after weeks of working at Gold Industries, Belle had to have gathered whatever Intel she needed, be it based in the business or even in Gold's personal files. She had access to his office, his apartment, she had even been to his town house. She had charmed him like a pro and he knew that whatever she might ask him he would tell her - so what was she waiting for?

It was too confusing, too many arguments falling on either side of the line, it left Gold quite bewildered. It ought to make sense for Belle to be the bad guy in all this, for her to be using him, pretending to love him for her own ends, though he didn't want to believe it. On the other hand, if she were this horrible person, why had she not made her move, taking any of the ample opportunities that had come her way to defraud him, trick him, accuse him. It made even less sense for her to be bad than it did for her to be good, and Gold put a hand to his head, feeling the pain of his own confusion then.

In the end, the only way to know for sure if Belle was a liar was to confront her. She could try to talk her way out of things if she was indeed a practised conwoman, but Gold would know. He was ready for her now, wary of her ways. Yes, he and his dear, sweet Belle needed to have a conversation. By the end of it, he would know for sure if she was simply running from her past, or running a scam on him and his business. He hoped for both their sakes it was the former rather than the latter, he just couldn't quite believe it right now.

* * *

A plan was in the works. The extended team had been on it for hours, gathering all their Intel together, figuring out who was best used and at which part in the con. Regina knew Reul Ghorm of old, but had never seen Ruby. She knew Archie by reputation but probably wouldn't suspect him of any nefarious dealings, whilst the rest of the team would do best to stay out of sight where she was concerned. As for Gold, he knew them all, but as yet it seemed he suspected not a one, especially not his beloved Belle.

They were pulling together a twisted plot. Snow and Charming took the reins, but everybody’s contribution was taken into account. Using the resources available via Gold Industries, and what they already knew about Regina, it was possible they could both ruin her reputation with the general public at large, and dethrone her from the head of her business too. It wouldn’t be simple, not at all, but it was starting to look achievable. Belle listened intently to all the plans and gave her agreement to everything, even when David asked something of her that almost seemed too much.

“Well, wouldn’t it just be easier if I told Robert the truth sooner rather than later?” she checked. “We know for sure how much he cares about me, how much he trusts me, and he hates Regina...”

“I don’t doubt he cares, Belle,” said Jefferson kindly, even as he cut her off. “But a lot is hanging on this con. If we don’t keep him out of the loop until we’re sure we have Regina in place... We’re risking so much more than just ourselves.”

Belle knew he was right. Her father, Snow and Charming’s baby, August’s father too. Family and friends that had nothing to do with this world, including Ruby, Archie, and Rheul, who had been dragged into this mess. It could all fall apart from her being selfish. Belle felt sick.

“I’m sorry, Belle,” said Snow, looking truly apologetic as she wrapped an arm round her friend’s shoulders. “I know its tough for you, but just as soon as we have things in motion, you can figure things out with Gold.”

Charming made a huffing sound, like he doubted that were possible, or maybe just wondered why anyone would want to make a relationship work with a man like that. Belle couldn’t be angry with him, he just didn’t understand. David was a man with a cause, and Gold had always been the enemy. Belle knew better now, at least she believed she did. It was that much harder to explain to the others.

Her cell phone ringing made Belle jump and she frowned as she pulled it from her pocket, seeing it was indeed Robert calling. Taking a deep breath she moved into the empty kitchen and accepted the call.

“I was just thinking about you,” she said sweetly, smiling because she knew how much difference that made to the sound of a voice on the phone.

“Quite the coincidence,” he told her with a hint of a chuckle. “How are you, Belle?”

A hundred answers ran through her head, and yet only one could be given.

“Happy to hear from you,” she said softly. “I so enjoyed our date last night.”

“As did I,” he replied easily, pausing a moment before the point of his call became clear. “Would you think me a silly old fool if I said I already missed you, dearie?”

Belle smiled widely and yet there were tears behind her eyes she just couldn’t control. It felt so good to hear him say these things to her, and yet broke her heart at the same time, given the circumstances.

“Of course not,” she told him, clearing her throat so she might better speak. “Honestly? I miss you too.”

“Then why don't you come over, Belle?” he suggested like the most natural thing in the world - to him, she supposed it was. “Come to the house, we can have lunch together, just keep each other company.”

Belle swallowed hard and peered out into the room where her extended team continued to plan and plot. They were doing good things here, it all mattered, but it was killing her by degrees to be amongst it too much.

“Sounds wonderful,” she told Robert then, finding her next smile was a little more genuine. “I'll be there soon.”

Best to take her chances at happy moments whilst she could.

* * *

Everything seemed fine when Belle arrived at the house. She wasn't even feeling particularly nervous by that point, just an odd excitement about seeing Robert again. He loved her, he had said as much, and now to admit to missing her already, it all had to be a good sign. Though she doubted it every time the thought came into her head, Belle was still holding onto the hope that if he really loved her as much as she loved him, that he would be able to forgive her when the truth came out. It was still not a conversation she much looked forward to having, but between their feelings for each other, and the fact that Regina would be in the dust by then, Belle hoped it would be enough to tip the scale. If she was lucky, Robert would hear her tale of woe and forgive her, if she could just keep him believing the truth of her heart, even as she spun so many other lies about her life.

On the doorstep, he had greeted her with a sweet kiss. Belle wondered at how brief it really was but chose to think it had more to do with their standing where they could be spied on by the neighbours than anything else. Robert was not ashamed of her, she was sure of that. It was just nobodies business but theirs what they got up to, that was all.

They sat together in the living room, each with a cup of tea, all civilised, warm and cosy by the fire. Robert started making small talk and Belle was happy to go along with it, though she couldn't help thinking something wasn't quite right. She blamed her own paranoia, but he just didn't seem as he had been the night before, as if he was holding something back or perhaps something was bothering him.

“Robert, is there something on your mind?” she asked after a while.

“Now why ever would you ask me that, Belle?” he replied, meeting her eyes with a rather intense gaze that wasn’t altogether as she would expect. “Whatever would be on my mind?”

Belle's heart skipped a beat as her senses screamed what exactly could be bothering him. She didn't want to believe it, and unless he actually came out and asked her straight, she wasn’t about to reveal anything. The team had just now finalised their plan and it was imperative that Robert knew nothing of it until such a time as nothing could be reversed, accidentally or otherwise. Belle trusted the man she loved, but the team still had their doubts about how he would react when the truth came out. If Belle could just keep things under wraps a little longer...

“I don’t know,” she forced a smile, trying not to let her nerves show.

“I’m sure that you don’t,” he smiled back, perhaps a little too widely. “So, here’s a curious question that’s been puzzling away in my head,” he said, sipping his tea as if nothing at all was amiss. “When did you change your name from French to Hart?”

Belle had a mouthful of tea and swallowed it swiftly when she heard the question.

“I- I don’t know what you’re talking about, Robert,” she told him softly, wishing she had managed to speak with more conviction when his smile twisted to something less charming.

“Oh, you don’t?” he asked, putting his cup and saucer down onto the table hard enough to make a clatter.

Belle jumped with the surprise of it, her nerves already shot given the turn in the conversation. Robert knew something, or he thought he did. Belle wished she could tell him the truth now, despite his obvious anger. Maybe she could make things better if she just confessed all, but she couldn’t. This was so much bigger than her relationship with him, it involved her whole team and others beyond it. So much was at stake, more than she could bear. She had to keep on lying, even though it broke her heart.

“Robert, I don’t understand,” she told him, looking earnest as ever.

Belle already knew she was fighting a losing battle, the hardness in his eyes when he looked at her then, like steel blades piercing her heart. He was angry, oh so very upset, and he knew she was lying. Still, he couldn’t know everything, and she mustn’t reveal anything more than he had already figured out for himself.

“Oh, she doesn’t understand,” he said, as if to an audience that wasn’t there. “Funny, because she was so intelligent at her interview with a woman that wasn’t’ even there!”

He started yelling somewhere in the middle of the accusation. Not that it was really just a charge against Belle, it was a fact that couldn’t be denied. Her interview was non-existent, entirely fabricated to get her the job. How Robert had come to realise this now, she hadn’t a clue, though Belle suspected it all stemmed back to Killian Jones and his using her real name at the diner last night. She tried to think quickly, but she still wasn’t fast enough.

“Robert, please...” she urged him - he didn’t listen.

“Don’t you use your sweet girlish tones and looks on me, madam!” he snapped at her, on his feet now, practically breathing fire. “I know what you are! Well-practised LIAR!”

Belle swallowed hard, tried to rally all her strength - it appeared she was going to need it.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is now officially OFF HIATUS! :D

“Don’t you use your sweet girlish tones and looks on me, madam!” Robert snapped, on his feet now, practically breathing fire. “I know what you are! Well-practised LIAR!”

Belle swallowed hard, tried to rally all her strength - she was going to need it. Unfortunately, she was struggling for anything to say, anything at all that would help. She had never seen Robert so very angry, not once. He got annoyed at the office when things didn’t go quite as planned. She had seen frustration and even anger cross his face, indignation and frustration fill his voice as he snapped at Astrid or Ruby for something and nothing, when he lost it over August’s portrayal of Baelfire. With her, he had been so kind, so gentle and sweet. That man seemed to be gone now and in his place, the monster that Gold had always been suspected to be before she got to know him for real. This monster that she had caused to erupt, it was all her own doing, and that was what hurt Belle the most.

“I... I need to explain,” she tried to say, but her voice came out so very quiet and shaky. “If you’ll just listen!” she tried more forcefully, but one glance up into his red face was enough to silence her in a second.

“Oh, I’m all ears, dearie!” he told her harshly, all kindness gone from what ought to have been a sweet term of endearment, but no more. “Do please explain to me your wonderful plan to seduce and ruin me!” he boomed.

Belle winced at the harsh sound, feeling the urge to cover her ears with her hands and hide as she did when she was a child and the thunderstorms came at night. The simile was not lost on her. This was her own personal nightmare of crashing thunder and lightning, ruining a time of sunshine and smiles that came before. She and Robert had been so happy, so in love. Now everything was ruined, cast into the darkness and it was all her fault. There just seemed to be no escape from the quicksand Belle felt she had been plunged into. Any excuse she thought to make or reason she tried to give felt wrong. There was so much she couldn’t say, and plenty more she shouldn’t, she just felt sick.

“I never planned to seduce you or ruin you!” she yelled out of pure frustration. “If I’d wanted to do that, don’t you think I would by now?!”

That elicited a cruel and hollow laugh from Robert’s throat, the like of which Belle had never heard before and never wished to hear again. If there were such a thing as a truly evil laugh, she imagined that would be the perfect example. She hated it on instinct, just wanting to shy away from the sound but there was nowhere to go.

“Really, Belle? You do think so very much of your infinite charms all of a sudden,” he sneered at her. “You think I could be so easily led?”

“No, I don’t,” she shook her head. “Of course, I don’t, but that wasn’t what I was trying to do, I just told you that,” she tried her best to explain, actually starting to feel a little better as she battled his accusations with her own words.

She had to stand up for herself, she had to at least try and talk her way out of this. After all, it was what she did, what she had been doing from the age of sixteen. She could tell him much of the truth. Belle knew she must still conceal her team’s work, all their identities, their plan against Regina. She couldn’t risk other people’s lives to save her own skin, she had never done it before and she wouldn’t start now. The problem was that she must mix truth and lies in perfect harmony in order to get out of this safely and without losing Robert completely. On a normal day, Belle could do it, even under a certain amount of pressure she could cope. This was too much, this was a whole chunk of her world crashing down around her head, her mind spinning, and her heart breaking all at once. It was just too much, and yet Belle had to do her best with what she had.

“I’m waiting, Belinda,” said Robert then, snapping her attention back from her jumbled thoughts, more so with the use of her real name than anything else.

It sounded wrong, not because she had never heard him speak it until today, but because of the way he sneered it like a dirty word. Belle had always wanted Robert Gold to know her true name, to know everything real about her, but not like this, never like this.

“What do you want me to say, Robert?” she asked him, facing him with determined eyes but lips that couldn’t stop quivering under the strain. “All that should matter right now is that I love you,” she said definitely, determined that he still had to believe that above all things.

It was the truth, the one completely true thing that would always be so, no matter what else was said and done in this room today.

“Love?” he scoffed, though she could see from the pain in his eyes that he had felt it too, he could never be so hurt by her deception if he didn’t. “How dare you say...?”

“I say it because it’s true,” she cut in. “Robert, no matter what else you believe, I know you believe that I love you. I know that you love me too. That is the truth.”

He didn’t answer that. No flat-out denial, but certainly no corroboration either. She hadn’t really expected the latter, though somewhere deep inside, the fool in Belle had wished for it.

“You wouldn’t know the truth if it came up and kicked you in the head!” he told her nastily, though he had calmed down considerably from the first moment he exploded at her.

That was good, he was prepared to listen to her reasons and excuses, he wasn’t throwing her right out of the door. Belle saw a chance and she grabbed onto it. If he could just listen to her, if he could just believe in the love they had shared, it might be enough. True love conquered all, it was a cliché but Belle had seen it ring true before, not for her, but for others, she had seen it. David and Mary were her perfect example.

“I never meant to hurt you,” she said softly, moving in a step closer. “Robert, when we met... I had no idea how much I was going to feel for you. I only knew rumours and hearsay, and so much of that was wrong.”

“Not all of it,” he told her sharply, turning dark flashing eyes to meet hers once again. “Don’t be fooled, dearie. Some of those rumours you hear aren’t so far from the truth.”

“I know you can be ruthless and tough,” she agreed without flinching, not at all afraid he was going to physically strike at her or anything so vicious, not a chance. “A man of business has to be, to become as successful as you are, but you’re not a monster. Out of the two of us, I’m probably closer to that,” she cried, the tears coming too easily as the real truth of her own life began to leak out, just like the salt-water from her eyes.

Robert swallowed hard, kept the hard look on his face purposefully. He hated to see her cry, even after everything, even knowing she was a liar and worse. She was still Belle, in looks and voice, beautiful wide eyes and sweet temper. She was crying and his first instinct was to take her in his arms and assure her all would be well. This time, he couldn’t. She was the reason they were both wounded right now, both screaming and crying, inside if not out-loud. She had to explain herself, if she possibly could. Robert hoped she could, he just couldn’t quite believe it.

“You lied your way into my life,” he accused, watching Belle’s eyes dip to the floor.

“Yes, I did,” she admitted. “I didn’t have the interview with Mrs Potts, and... and Isabelle isn’t my real name,” she told him unsteadily. “But everyone does call me Belle, they always have. So it was spelt differently once, why does that matter?”

“If that was all it was, Belle, of course it wouldn’t matter,” he sighed heavily, anger dissipating in a second as he took in her shaking voice, quivering lip. “But you lied about everything. Everything,” he repeated, tone growing angrier again when she seemed to make no attempt to deny it.

“Not everything,” she said eventually, bringing her gaze back up to meet his own. “Robert, I... When I started to fall in love with you, nothing else mattered. Everything that had been a lie became true somehow, I can’t...”

The laugh was back, the horrible echoing sound that made Belle want to crawl away and hide.

“She speaks in such pretty riddles,” he said, to that audience that wasn’t there again, as one hand snaked out to touch Belle’s cheek. “But you don’t fool me, dearie, not anymore. You spin a nice tale...”

“It’s not a tale! Don’t patronise me!” she yelled then, turning her face away from his touch. 

She was incensed by the way he was speaking to her. He accused her of making a mockery of everything they had shared, but now he was being far worse. Robert was taking whatever was left of their relationship and stamping it into the ground. Belle couldn’t stand it, not for a moment. She was so angry that she just started yelling, right from the heart, without even thinking.

“Why won’t you just listen to me?” she raved, stamping her foot hard into the floor with pure frustration. “I never wanted things to be this way! I didn’t ask her to choose me!”

Belle realised her slip immediately, moments before Robert’s eyes darkened to the deepest depths of blackness. She had mentioned Regina, not by name, but it was enough. The moment was lost, the last spark of a chance she might have had to turn the tide. It was over.

“This wasn’t just you,” he said in a low voice that made Belle shudder in all kinds of ways she couldn’t explain as he stalked towards her across the wooden floor. “You... You’re working for her!” he boomed.

Belle tried her best not to flinch away, but it was hard not to when he was right in her face and yelling.

“I’m not,” she countered weakly - he barely heard her.

“You’re working for her!” he repeated, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking. “That evil witch, Regina Mills! You’re her lackey, her... her whore!”

Belle yanked her arm free from his grasp, brought it back and swung at his face with every ounce of strange she possessed. There was almighty crack as she struck him across the cheek, her hand stinging like crazy just as soon as it was done and shock flooding her body. Robert looked genuinely stunned, more so than she had ever seen him, even in the last half hour she had been here today. She hadn’t really meant to hurt him but his name-calling cut so deeply, she couldn’t help her own natural reaction of anger; before she knew it, she had lashed out.

Robert looked up gradually, turning his head as if in slow motion. He couldn’t quite believe what had just happened, and should see from the way Belle was staring at him that she hadn’t quite been expecting it herself. His face stung terribly, but it was nothing compared to the knife in his heart.

“Get out,” he ground out.

Belle looked as if she might be considering arguing at first, but in the end her own good sense prevailed. They both knew there was nothing to be said right now, nothing to be done that would make this situation any better. Robert highly doubted there would ever be a way to fix this. Belle had not denied working for Regina, not even now as he stood here ordering her to be gone. It had to be true, and it hurt, so much so that he almost couldn’t breathe for the pain. He needed her gone, and it had to be now.

“I said get out! And don’t you ever, ever come anywhere near me again!”

Belle’s heart shattered at the sound of those words, the shards clattering into a pile in her chest with such a force she swore she heard the sound of it somehow. Still, she had to do as he asked. After everything, she owed him that much. With a single unsteady nod of her head, she turned to go, stopping by the door and looking back just one more time.

“I’m sorry, Robert,” she all but whispered. “Whatever else you choose to believe, I did love you. I... I always will.”

Belle left then. By the time he looked up she had already gone from his sight. Still, Robert Gold waited until he heard the front door close behind her, before he allowed himself to break down completely.

The tears made him all the more angry and frustrated, his hand reached for his cane and power seemed to surge through every vein and nerve ending. With an almighty crash, he put through all the glass panels in the china cabinet, laid waste to every ornament and trinket on the mantle, systemically destroyed every delicate item in the room one sweep and smash at a time, until all there was nothing left to do but sink into a heap in the centre of the floor and cry.


	30. Chapter 30

Mary couldn’t concentrate.

When Belle came back to the apartment in floods of tears, she knew things were bad. She only ever saw her friend genuinely cry once before, and it had taken a near-death experience to cause it. The only thing that could have broken her heart like this was Robert Gold. He knew the truth, Mary was sure of that before Belle ever spoke the words. Her heart ached for her dear friend as she felt her pain. Losing the one you loved, even temporarily, was hard enough. It was clear to all that Belle’s relationship with Gold was likely to be forever broken after everything. What she had done, masquerading as another, it was probably unforgivable, especially given the way she could not explain herself. David had panicked at first, worried Belle had blown their covers in any way at all. He should have had more faith, and Mary knew it. No, Belle had sacrificed any chance of saving her love by keeping as many secrets as she could so her team might still complete their work. It was an incredibly selfless thing to do, and yet Mary had no doubt Gold had painted his almost-lover as the blackest of creatures.

Now all focus was back on the complex plans to bring down Regina Mills. The trouble was, as David made suggestions, as Jefferson threw in stats and facts, and August added opinions, all Mary could do was stare at the bedroom door and worry about Belle. It was all so unfair that her heart had to be broken just to make this job work out. They couldn’t give up though, she knew that as well as anyone. Regina was a bad seed, she needed to be put down once and for all, and at last they had the perfect opportunity to do it. All the right people, in the right place at the right time, with resources aplenty. It didn’t make it any more fair.

“You think you can handle your part, Snow?” asked her husband with a look when she didn’t reply immediately.

“Whatever you need,” she nodded absently, clearly not listening. “I’ll be back,” she promised, touching his hand as she passed by to the bedroom.

She knocked lightly before she let herself inside. Belle was laying on the bed with her back to the door. She had stopped crying, but Mary was sure she still felt devastated over what had happened. Sitting down on the other edge of the bed, she reached a hand out to her friend’s hair.

“I’m so sorry, Belle,” she said softly.

“It’s not your fault,” the other woman replied hoarsely, her voice ruined by all the yelling and sobbing before. “It’s not anybody’s fault but mine. Falling in love with the mark, it’s rule one in the book that you never do that!” she cursed herself.

“Belle,” Mary winced at how hard she was being on herself. “You can’t blame yourself. Regina put you in an impossible position. Even if you and Gold hadn’t developed feelings for each other, she still expected you to bring down a man, firstly, against your will, and secondly, when he is clearly not the monster she portrayed.”

Belle sat up then and turned to look at her friend curiously. She knew Robert Gold was not as black as he had been painted, not even close, but to have Mary trust her word so implicitly as to believe it, that was really something.

“I just... I can’t bear knowing he’s out there in the world hating me,” she admitted, trying to keep the crack out of her voice, but it didn’t come easy, not even to a professional liar like Belle.

“I’m sure he doesn’t hate you, sweetheart,” Mary told her, trying her damnedest to bring comfort in an almost impossible situation. “And I promise you, when we’re done with Regina, we’re going to do our best to make Gold see this was not your fault,” she swore. “Maybe there is still a way to get a happy ending for everybody this time,” she smiled weakly.

It was a long shot getting a happy ending for anyone in this world. Their team had managed it a few times. Saving one person here, a family there, it seemed like enough, and yet, as much as she claimed not to believe it were ever possible for her, Belle still craved her own fairytale, deep down inside. It was only when she met Robert Gold and fell in love that she truly thought perhaps she really could have that kind of happiness. Now all hope seemed lost.

“I don’t know what it would take to make him even talk to me again after everything,” she sighed heavily, her fingers picking at a loose thread on her short sleeve. “He practically banished me from his life, and it’s clear he doesn’t forgive easily. He was more angry than I ever saw him, even when August pretended to be Baelfire, and trust me that was bad,” she explained.

Mary started to frown then, and Belle was concerned by the expression. It wasn’t as if what she was saying was a surprise. The whole assembled, extended team knew all that had gone before with Gold, because they had each told everything they knew. Everyone knew Regina hired August to play the part of Gold’s son, and yet Mary looked suddenly so thoughtful.

“Baelfire,” she said out of the blue, just in the moment when Belle was going to ask if something was wrong. “Gold hasn’t seen his son in so many years, and he was desperate to think he had found him, he believed August could be one and the same,” she recalled. 

“Yes, that’s true,” Belle agreed, hoping an explanation soon came as to why that was relevant in this particular moment.

Mary’s frown faded, and her friend felt all the more bemused, until suddenly Mary grabbed Belle’s hand in her own and grinned right at her.

“I have an idea,” she said brightly. “An idea that means we might really be able to get a happy ending for everybody.”

* * *

“You’re trying my patience, Hook,” Regina said crossly, folding her arms on her desk. “Is that stupid girl in position yet or isn’t she?”

Killian Jones barely managed to keep his smirk in check as he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the company director’s desk. He busied himself with shining one of the rings on his left hand and made a big deal of answering her question in his own good time.

“Depends what position you’d like her in, love,” he said eventually, finally sparing Regina a glance. “Have to say, I could think of one or two...”

“Save it!” Regina snapped. “I didn’t bring you in on this job to salivate over the rest of my pawns.”

“No, you brought me in because I was the best man for the job,” he snapped right back, bringing his feet down to the floor now and sitting up sharply in his seat. “Just because you sit on that side of the desk, doesn’t make you queen of the world, Regina. You forget, I know where you come from,” he sneered.

Regina bit back all the comments she would like to make right now. She hated that he knew her well, that he was intimate with her family once upon a time. Hook was the right nickname, and for more than one reason. He could catch women easier than the most expert fisherman caught bass. At the same time, he had a nasty streak that you didn’t want to get on the wrong side of. One strike, be it literal or figurative, and you went down, hard.

“Let’s not waste time here. We both know our parts in this little game,” said Regina then, pulling herself up as tall as she could whilst still sitting. “Belle makes eyes at Gold until he tells her all we need to know, she feeds back to me, and together we bring the old bastard to his knees. I get his business, you get your share of the prizes too, of course, and the satisfaction of seeing Gold rot in jail for all that he has done to the both of us.”

Hook smiled at the thought of bringing the old man down, at least that was what Regina would assume he was smiling at. It was part of his reason certainly, but his so-called partner-in-crime didn’t know the half of it. Even she didn’t know the whole truth of the history that existed between himself and Gold. Didn’t know about his darling Milah, Gold’s wife that had run away with Killian Jones so long ago. She had died too young, too soon, and all because of a broken heart that Gold caused. He denied her any contact with her son, and losing Baelfire was too much for Milah. Hook wanted Gold to meet the same fate, and when it became clear to anyone with eyes that dear old Robert and the charming Belle were infinitely closer than anyone ever could have guessed they might be, Hook was there to stick the knife in.

“Jones?” said Regina then as she noted how quiet he was, how distant. “Is there something I need to know that you haven’t told me?” she checked.

Poor Regina, he thought idly, so unaware of the inner workings of what was supposed to be her own plan. She would have no idea that Gold now knew Belle’s true identity, that even now as they sat here that particular relationship was most likely being torn asunder. Gold’s heart would be broken, and yet Regina’s plan would probably still work out, taking his business out from under him too. It was perfect, and she had no idea.

“If you needed to know, love,” he smiled, getting to his feet, “then I’d tell you,” he assured her, tipping a wink her way before he headed for the door.

Though she called his name after him, Jones didn’t look back. Regina smacked the desk with her fist in frustration. Getting into dealings with him was mostly out of desperation and also respect for another. Opening the secret compartment in her top desk drawer, she pulled out a sepia photograph of a beautiful but distinctly older woman. 

“We will have our vengeance, mother,” she whispered, gently touching the portrait. “Your death will not be in vain.”

* * *

“Are you sure about this, Ruby?” asked Belle seriously. “It could be dangerous. Regina knows you work for Gold, if she suspects...”

“It’ll be fine, Belle,” her friend assured her. “You’ll be right there with me, and I know exactly what to say. Jefferson has me prepped,” she smiled, looking sideways at the hacker who seemed to blush in the same moment.

Somehow Belle couldn’t help but wonder exactly what ‘prep’ meant in this particular sense. She couldn’t be mad about it though. These two knew each other from before, in a way, and they were both good people in their own ways. If they could be happy together, short term or longer, she couldn’t feel sorry for it. No reason they couldn’t have a fairytale ending just because she might never get her own. Mary said she had a plan, and Belle couldn’t deny it was a good one, but whether it would get Robert to ever look at her as he had before, well, she highly doubted that was ever going to happen.

In the meantime, the con was on. She and Ruby would go to Regina, and tell her they both had the information she needed, but the rules had changed. Rheul and August were gone to protect those that Ms Mills might try to use as leverage - Belle’s father, Snow and Charming’s baby, August’s father. There wasn’t anyone else to threaten anymore, and so those three would be put in safe houses, watched around the clock. There were enough people in on this con now to ensure no harm came to anyone, at least not unless their name was Regina Mills.

Jefferson’s lines into both Regal Corp and Gold Industries would be invaluable for as long as they remained open. He was fast downloading and backing up just about everything he could lay his hands on, trying to put in back doors in case his main routes became blocked, as and when Regina or Gold became suspicious. Mary and David couldn’t show their faces, and so their emissary was to be Archie. His part to play wasn’t so very complicated, he just needed to be his own therapist self, replacing the guy Regina regularly visited since her stolen son Henry was taken from her. It might be morally wrong to mess with a woman’s mind in a therapy session, but he would do it, just this once, with this one evil witch. It was for the greater good after all.

In the middle of the final preparation before Belle and Ruby left for their part of the assignment, a cell phone rang on the table. It was a disposable, untraceable hand set that Mary had brought. She answered immediately knowing it could only be one person, the only one she had given the number to.

“Emma, what do you have?”

Everyone waited to hear what came next. Mostly quiet confirmations of understanding on the side of their female leader, and then the call ended and she looked only at Belle.

“Nothing definite yet, but she doesn’t think it’s going to be too hard,” she assured her with a smile.

Belle nodded her understanding, allowing her lips to curve the slightest bit before she took a deep breath and pushed all emotions aside. She had a job to do, the same job she had always done, but never had it mattered quite this much before. Regina Mills was a thorn in the side of so many good people, as well as thieves and grifters like themselves. Not for much longer. She would not ruin anymore lives, Belle was determined on that.

“Let’s go,” she told Ruby, who nodded once and followed her from the apartment.

The new grifter stopped by the door and glanced back. Jefferson gave her an encouraging smile and tipped his hat, his finger skimming over his ear on the way back to the tablet he held. She knew what that meant. No matter how far away Ruby and Belle were, their team were close by in their ears. That was weirdly comforting, Ruby thought, as she fought to keep her breathing even and headed into her first real mission.


	31. Chapter 31

Robert Gold wasn’t drunk, but he wasn’t far away from being so. Not much drove him to the bottle, not business deals gone south or a bad day at the office, not even women and their stupid, careless behaviour most of the time. This was different, because this was Belle.

Since meeting her, Gold’s life had certainly felt as if it were turned upside down. He never had thought to fall in love again, not after Milah. She had broken his heart so completely when she walked away, and perhaps what hurt most was the way Robert was forced to share the burden of the blame for her going. He hadn’t treated her well enough, hadn’t given her enough time, enough evidence of his love. He downed another shot as he thought of the day she left, refilled his glass as the words from the note she had left on the kitchen table flashed through his mind. She was a coward, leaving without a real goodbye, and Robert hated her more for leaving Baelfire without a care than himself. Their son was not to blame, not in anyway at all, and what lesson had Gold really learnt from pushing Milah away? None at all, for he had done the same with Bae in the end.

For the longest time, he had lived a simple, single life. Almost all of his energies were put into his business, and that paid dividends in so many ways. Whatever free time he allowed himself was spent in search of Bae, at least until she came along.

Cora was beauty and intelligence combined. There was a fire in her heart and so much ambition screaming to get out. Gold had more or less picked her up from the gutter and allowed her to bloom and flourish like a rose. She was a friend to his business and no stranger to his bed. For a while he had thought himself in love, but her scheming ways were not always used for him but against. Ultimately, they were too selfish to really love each other more than they thought to love themselves. Gold poured himself another drink and smiled wickedly. At least he knew why Regina despised him. He had been her dear mother’s downfall in the end, using her to take the fall for one of his dodgiest deals, knowing full well she had plans to do the same before long and take Gold Industries out from under him - he would never allow that. His business had prospered and Regina had become his fiercest rival, one he hated almost as much as he hated Killian Jones.

They called Jones by the nickname of Hook, and that was how Gold thought of him. The hook that snared his beloved and took her away. Milah left of her own accord and doubtless would have done so with or without assistance, but it was Jones’ arms she ran to, and for that Gold hated him. He did business with the wretch only for his own ends, all the time looking for a way to flatten the impudent little toad. He had not found it yet, but there was a way, he was sure. Gold had suspected Jones of being tied up with Regina’s own plans to bring him down, but Killian’s outing Belle the way he had made Robert start to wonder. 

Right now nothing really added up, least of all Isabelle Hart a.k.a Belinda French. No matter what she called herself, to Robert Gold she would always be Belle, the woman who took his heart and tore it to shreds. She had to be working for Regina, it was all that made sense, though good sense went out of the window with more and more haste as the level in the whiskey bottle sunk down, down, down.

Oblivion would follow, if he allowed it. Such a thing was too tempting right now, only because it would help him forget. In a drunken state of unconscious mist, Robert could pretend that things were still as they had been before he learned the truth of his darling Belle. Before the heart he barely admitted to owning shattered like glass in his chest, making it almost impossible to even breathe.

* * *

“Did you know?” asked Emma the moment Mary walked up to her in the safe house across town.

There was no hug, no greeting that suggested she were pleased to see her after all this time, even though they had become great friends. Mary had gotten Emma’s child back for her, saved little Henry from the evil clutches of Regina Mills, and whilst she wasn’t exactly looking for an awesome amount of gratitude, a smile or a hug of welcome might’ve been nice.

“Emma, I don’t understand,” she shook her head. “Is something wrong?” she checked then as the blonde backed up a step and continued to frown hard.

“Snow, when you had me look for this guy, this Baelfire Gold, did you already know what I would find?” she asked again, making herself as clear as she could.

Now it was Mary’s turn to be confused. Clearly there was some information they weren’t privy to here and it was enough to cause Emma distress. Maybe in a different situation, the grifter would have put it all together, but she had to confess that in this moment she just had no idea what her old friend was talking about. It was obvious the folder in Detective Swan’s hand held the answer and Mary eyed it warily.

“All I know about Baelfire is that he is Robert Gold’s son,” she said definitely. “I swear to you Emma, every detail I gave you was all we had to go on, that’s why I called you.”

“You have a hacker, I know you do,” the blonde replied. “Jefferson can get into any records, including ours,” she said, lowering her voice to a whisper even though she knew nobody was around to hear. “Snow, why would you need me?”

“Because it was easier,” she told her honestly. “Because we didn’t want any red flags raised right now, we can’t afford it. Emma we’re in the middle of the con of our lives, not just the old team but outside help. If we put one foot wrong, I dread to think what the consequences might be,” she explained calmly, but honestly as she ever said anything, she only hoped Emma could believe that. “I have never lied to you Emma, I swear it.”

Emma knew she was telling the truth. You didn’t get as high up in the police force as she was and at her young age too, without being able to spot a liar when you met one. Snow could lie, she did it professionally, but right now she was on the level, Emma was sure.

“Well, then I just uncovered the world’s greatest coincidence,” she said at length, at last giving up the folder she had been holding a little aloft this entire time. “Here, see for yourself.”

Mary took the folder from Emma’s hand and carefully opened it. She saw no surprises on the first page, just a profile of a young man, dark hair and dark eyes, good-looking in his own way, she could see that from the picture pinned to the next piece of paper in the file. He had a rap sheet too, but nothing terrible, just petty theft and such. There were a few known aliases and it was only when she read these that something hit home inside Mary’s head.

“Neal Cassidy,” she breathed, her eyes coming up to meet Emma’s own then. “Oh, Emma...”

“Yeah,” she cut in, hands deep in her pockets, body language tense and agitated. “Henry’s father.”

* * *

The extra members of the new team had cleared out a while ago, gone back to their respective homes via various means to cover the fact they had ever been together. David had driven Mary over to the safe-house to meet Emma, and then went on to do a little recon, whilst August packed his bags, ready to jet off to wherever he might be needed in the hunt for Baelfire Gold. That left Belle alone in her apartment with Jefferson, who just hadn’t left somehow. She never questioned it, she didn’t really care if he was there or not. Honestly, in the last hour, she hadn’t even looked at him, never mind spoken. Though it might seem somewhat out of character for him to care at all, the hacker was worried about her.

“So, the meeting went off without a hitch?” he asked, trying to get Belle’s attention but it seemed she was focused on something that wasn’t even there. “You got Queen Mills where we want her?”

He already knew the answer from the debrief they had when Belle and Ruby got back, but he just needed an opener, anything to get her talking.

“I don’t know,” Belle muttered in eventual reply - Jefferson had to wonder if she even really heard the questions.

Pushing off the bookshelf he had made his spot, he came over to the couch and sat beside her, finally abandoning his tablet on the coffee table.

“Belle?” he urged her to look at him, his hand picking up her own from her lap. “C’mon, don’t fall part on us now. I know this is hard for you, believe me, I know, but this is too big. We need you focused.”

“I know,” she agreed, because she really did understand the need to pull herself together.

That didn’t mean it came easy though. Jefferson was maybe the one other person who knew what it was to lose someone you loved as much as Belle had come to love Gold. He never spoke of it, not in any detail, but they all knew. The love of his life had left him, through her own choice or not was never entirely clear, and then there had been a daughter. Belle couldn’t bear to think about the losses Jefferson had suffered, and although she knew another’s crushing agony ought to make her feel a little easier about her own pain, somehow it didn’t.

“Er, Regina believed us,” she said, deciding a subject change was safer, as was pulling her hand free of Jefferson’s grasp before his attempts at comfort brought on further tears. “She thinks I got Ruby on side, that Robert is some kind of fiend that has hurt her enough to make her want to turn on him. We were convincing enough, she’ll buy any information we feed her now.”

“That’s good,” Jefferson nodded along, but it wasn’t what was bothering him.

The plan had to work, for the sake of everybody else. For himself, he could care less. His life wasn’t much in the first place, very little left to lose, but these people surrounding him, their lives mattered. Mary and David had pretty much saved him from himself, and Jefferson wouldn’t see them hurt for anything. They had a baby to get back to after all. August was trying to protect his father, Belle had ideas to do the same, as well as build bridges with Gold. Now there was a pairing Jefferson would never have called obvious, and yet the more he thought on it, the more it kind of made sense.

“If he really can love, and the strangest people can,” he told her with a knowing look, “I don’t see how Gold can do anything but forgive you in the end.”

Belle tried to smile but the look didn’t take. She wanted to believe in Robert’s capacity for forgiveness but she was afraid it was all too late. Lying about her name or her past, those things might have been something they could work through, given time. The fact all lies were a veil to hide that she was working for Regina, that was what really hurt. In the beginning she had planned to reel him in so she could use him, however unsavoury she had found it all,. however against her will the whole deal had been. She doubted that would really matter to Robert now.

“I’m not so sure people like us are supposed to get happy endings,” she sighed. “I thought for a while, maybe it was possible, but now...”

“Now, just look at Snow and Charming,” Jefferson rolled his eyes. “Nobody is as in love as they are, and there are no stronger people in this world than them when they’re together.”

“That’s different,” Belle argued. “They were on the same side, almost from the start. They know the truth of each other, and it didn’t break them, it gave them that strength they have. The truth about me is what shattered whatever Robert and I had.”

Tears came back to her eyes that she hated knowing were there. She hadn’t cried this much since she was a child, before her new life and profession had begun. Of course, her heart had never been broken quite like this either.

“You’re not helping me, Belle,” said Jefferson, nudging her shoulder with his own and forcing a smile she knew so well as he teased her. “If there’s no hope for you to be in love, what chance do I stand with... anyone?”

Though he said no specific name, Belle had a feeling she knew where his interest lie. Jefferson and Ruby might not seem like an obvious pairing either, but she could see them making it work. They certainly liked each other, and they had no secrets anymore. She knew what he was, what he had done and why. Their worlds were not really so very divided.

“She could do worse,” said Belle definitely, patting his hand. “I’m sure she likes you.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he shrugged. “She’s certainly proving herself a useful grifter,” he smiled, leaning back on the couch then with his hands behind his head.

“You two could have quite the future,” smiled Belle as she looked at him. “I’m sure Ruby would relish the chance for adventure, and at the same time, be glad enough to settle down when the time came. She strikes me as the type for both scenarios.”

It was a pretty picture she painted, Jefferson couldn’t deny. He never thought to be happy again, not like that, but Belle never lied to him, that much he was sure of. He trusted her opinion implicitly, he had no reason to do anything else. Maybe when this job was done, it was worth taking a risk on an adventure with Ruby. Of course, all this made Belle feel no better about her own broken relationship.

“Y’know, if finding his son for him isn’t a big enough gesture for Gold, I don’t know what is.”

“We don’t know for sure that we’ve found him yet,” sighed Belle. “Or if Baelfire will want to see his father when we do, but I do hope so.”

It wasn’t all she hoped where Robert Gold was concerned, but it was all she dared for now. If she could reunite father and son, if Robert could believe her intentions were honourable, her feelings were true, maybe there was a chance of gaining his forgiveness and trust again. If finding Baelfire didn’t do it, the destruction of Regina Mills and her corrupt business might. Belle kept on hoping, more than she ever hoped before. It was almost all she had left to do.


	32. Chapter 32

“You’re sure you can find him?” Belle asked into the disposable phone. “The information could be wrong...”

“Even if it is, and I doubt it, I’ll find him,” said August in her ear, the sound of Manhattan traffic almost drowning him out. “Emma wouldn’t be wrong, and I have never let you down yet, have I?”

She could almost hear the smile in his voice. Of course she trusted August, and Emma too, she was just so very nervous about all of this. Baelfire was the key to her getting back into Robert’s good graces. If they could track down the son he had lost and convince him to reunite with his father, however briefly, Belle knew that would make Robert so happy. Maybe then he would understand how much she loved him, how much he really meant to her. Belle would never go to such pains on his behalf if it was all a lie and he had to believe that in the end.

“This means a lot to me, August,” she told him genuinely. “If I could’ve done it myself...”

“I know,” he agreed. “But you’re needed there right now. How are things going?” he checked, getting yelled at by a cab driver as he attempted to cross at a ‘Don’t Walk’ sign.

“Ruby has fed through the bogus figures and the fake name, and Jefferson has backed up her intel with the computer data,” Belle explained. “So long as she does what we expect, no more, no less, we should be able to finish her.”

It was all hanging on a ‘should’ and that was dangerous. Of course there were back up plans in place, there always were, but they were never as clean as Plan A. When they started shifting further down the alphabetical list, things got messy, sloppy. There could be trouble, someone could get dangerously hurt if they had to resort to Plan G or as far as Plan M. Belle hated when there were too many variables, and on this occasion she hated it twice as much because Robert Gold was one of the pawns on the chess board. He had already been so hurt by what she had done. If after all this, Regina came out on top again somehow, any semblance of their relationship would be irretrievable.

“I wish she wasn’t so unpredictable,” said August then, as if he read the words right out of Belle’s mind. “But hey, sometimes we get lucky and wishes come true right?”  
He was smiling again, trying his best to cheer her up and Belle couldn’t help but be grateful for it. It was at least a relief to have her team back with her, to know that if nothing else they were working together again and hopefully bringing down one of the worst perpetrators of bent business in this town, maybe even in the country. If they could bring Regal Corp to its knees and finally put Regina Mills behind bars where she belonged, this whole debacle wouldn’t be a total loss, regardless of whether Belle managed to salvage her relationship with Robert Gold or not.

“Signal’s going,” said August as he turned a corner and the line crackled badly. “I’ll check in when I have something more to tell you.”

Belle agreed to that and then hung up from the call. Clutching the phone to her chest with both hands, her eyes drifted heavenward and for the first time in a long time she genuinely prayed. She prayed that August found Baelfire, and that he would want to see his father. She prayed that this plan went off without a hitch, questionable as it might seem, because the ends had to justify the means, especially on this occasion, surely.

“Just let me hope,” she said desperately. “Let there always be hope.”

* * *

“Honey, you have to stop,” said Snow, putting her hands to Charming’s shoulders and urging him away from the table where papers and plans were widely spread.

If Jefferson were with them, everything would be computerised, but this couple were old school when they were running things alone. It had been days now since they started planning to bring down Regina Mills in any serious way. There were so many people involved, with varying degrees of experience in these things, and all kinds of knowledge that may be useful. Snow watched Charming juggle everything and knew her own input was invaluable to him, but at the end of the day, he would feel so guilty if anything went wrong, hence the pouring over paperwork for hours on end, and not sleeping like his should.

“There are so many variables, Snow,” he told her with a heavy sigh. “I keep thinking we might miss something, and then somebody will get hurt or Regina will get way again. We can’t let that happen!”

“We won’t,” she promised, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind and kissing his cheek. “We have every plan in place, every failsafe, every avenue covered.”

“Do we?” he asked, mostly rhetorically, and yet she felt the need to reassure him that they did, and in all the detail she could find.

“If Regina doesn’t seem to be going for the deal, her temp psychologist, played by Archie, will help to convince her,” she said definitely. “If she doesn’t put in all the money that we’ve advised, Jefferson will intervene electronically. If anything inside Regal Corp goes awry we have Rheul in there. If it looks like Regina might go for the double-cross by siding with Gold, Ruby will go in with the fake black-eye and convince her he’s too dangerous to meet face to face right now.”

It all made sense and Charming knew it, yet he was constantly worrying something would go very wrong. It wasn’t just the plans they had in place against Regina either. He threw his pencil down on the table and leaned back into his wife’s embrace.

“I keep thinking about Belle,” he admitted. “I hate that she seems to have fallen in love with Gold of all people, but I do trust her judgement and I just… I want her to be as happy as we are,” he sighed, turning to reach for Snow and pull her into his lap.

“Maybe she can be,” she smiled down at him and kissed his lips. “August will find Baelfire and Belle can take him to Gold. That’ll prove how dedicated she is to making things up to him,” she reminded him. “I just wish that didn’t make life difficult for Emma. I can hardly believe the coincidence, that Gold’s son is Henry’s father.”

“It is quite the twist of fate,” he nodded, holding her close. “I miss our Emma too,” he admitted then. “I’ll be so happy to get back to her.”

“Shouldn’t be more than a couple of days now,” Snow promised, leaning in for another kiss.

They found comfort and relief in each other’s embrace, stumbling to their feet from the chair and edging towards the bedroom of their temporary apartment. They barely made the doorway when a phone rang, forcing them to part. It was the number that could only be one person.

“August?” said Snow as she grabbed up the phone and answered his call. “August, did you find him?”

“I did,” he agreed, wincing right after thanks to the black eye he was sporting. “He wasn’t all that happy to be found. It’s worse than we thought, Snow, he really hates Gold. He won’t come back with me, not even for a second.”

Snow looked at Charming who had been standing close enough to hear every word. There was a question in her eyes that he easily read and nodded in agreement. There was only one course of action to take. Belle was hardly any use at all in the plan against Regina now they had Ruby in place. She would be sitting on her hands until the ball dropped, probably driving herself crazy with worries and fears. She needed something useful to do, and nothing could be better for her than helping with Baelfire. After all, she had the most insight into Gold’s heart. If anyone could convince his son to come back to him, if only for a brief visit, it would be Belle.

“August find somewhere to stay tonight, text the address straight to Belle,” Snow told him definitely. “She’ll come do the rest.”

* * *

Ruby couldn’t entirely concentrate on her work, though she was doing her best. It was strange knowing somebody was listening in to everything she was doing. It was for her own good, of course, but it was still strange. Snow said it was in her best interest to be on comms whilst she continued to work for Gold. If she hadn’t shown up, he would only be suspicious and they couldn’t have that. Besides, it was better for the team to know what Gold told everyone else about Belle (that she had been sacked, and that was all he would say) as well as monitor whether or not he was having deals with Regina or similar. Maybe it wouldn’t have seemed so strange to Ruby if the voice in her head wasn’t Jefferson. He had worked here once, been her boss in fact, and then supposedly gone mad and killed himself. All this was part of a con trick, a double-cross in which he had become caught between Regina and Gold. Now Ruby knew he was definitely playing on the side of good with her and Snow & Charming, as well as Belle and so many others. She liked knowing for sure that they were on the same team, that she could trust him entirely. She always liked him and now it was okay to do so. No more worries about being inappropriate in the workplace or concerning herself with his mental state. He seemed to like her too. He liked to see if he could make her laugh out loud for no reason so she would have to explain herself to the girls in the office. He never tried it in front of Gold, blowing her cover that way would be far too dangerous, but at other times, it was just fun.

“You’re going to get me into trouble!” giggled Ruby in the privacy of the empty break room.

“Give me the chance and I just might,” he told her, every word a dirty suggestion in her ear though Ruby couldn’t be entirely sure if it was intentional - she guessed it was.

Things turned serious in a moment when Gold could be heard yelling in the office. He was tearing into Astrid for something, which to be fair actually was likely to be her fault. Still, he was going even more crazy than usual and both Ruby and Jefferson knew why.

“He misses her,” she whispered.

“Heart break is never an easy thing to bear,” he said in her ear, so very sad and broken for a moment before bouncing back so quickly, Ruby felt she could’ve gotten whiplash from the change. “But we can figure this out yet. Belle is the most honest thief I know. I don’t believe for a second that she meant to break Gold’s heart.”

“I didn’t even know he had one, at least not until recently,” Ruby considered, stirring the milk into her coffee then raising the mug to her lips. “I guess in the end there really is somebody out there for everybody.”

“Maybe,” Jefferson replied. “But that’s enough chat for now, Miss Lucas. Back to your desk like a good girl,” he mock scolded.

She rolled her eyes even though he couldn’t see.

“Yes, sir!” she said with a grin as she headed back to her work.

Jefferson’s laughter in her head was the best sound. She hoped to inspire much more of it yet, before this job was done.

* * *

“Apartment 43,” muttered Belle as she reached the door buzzer panel.

She knew from experience that if she pressed that button she would spook Baelfire, or Neal as he was currently going by, and he would run. Parcel or pizza delivery was a good cover sometimes, but not when a person was in the know. Given his rap sheet, Belle was sure he would be suspicious and bolt before she had a chance to say her piece. Instead she buzzed every other button on the panel and waited for someone who was maybe expecting a visitor to just let her in without question - it worked within seconds.

Getting into the actual apartment itself might have been harder, if Belle didn’t know exactly what she was doing. She knocked on the door and waited. Someone moved inside but didn’t offer to answer her knock. Taking a breath, she put on her best American accent and prayed the door muffled her voice enough to make her believable.

“Neal? Please, open the door. I need your help.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie since she did need his assistance, but the voice acting was a purposeful trick. She sounded a little like Emma when she tried, and that she hoped would be enough to get the door open. When she saw just the vaguest chink of light, Belle shoved forward, almost knocking poor Baelfire over with the sudden and unexpected force. In the centre of his dingy apartment, she stood her ground, even as she made apologies for the intrusion.

“I know, you’re confused,” she said carefully. “I’m not here to make trouble or cause any harm,” she promised with placating gestures and as innocent an expression as she had worn in years. “I just need to talk to you… about your father.”

“Get out!” he immediately ground out in reply, though he made no moves to force her out the still open door.

Belle didn’t know what kind of man Neal Cassidy was; she knew very little of Baelfire Gold whom he used to be. All she had to go on was Robert’s memories of a child and a police record from Emma. Still, she was not afraid. If she must fight, she could, but somehow she suspected this man would not be so quick to lash out at her as he was August. Men hit other men as a matter of course if they thought they needed to. It took a real monster of a man to hit a woman unless physically provoked to do so.

“Please, I just need you to listen. Five minutes, that’s all I ask,” she begged him, knowing that even on her best day of grifting that would barely be enough time.

Perhaps she could work better with truth and honesty. Belle wasn’t sure when she last tried it, not even with Robert since there were always things she had to hide from him even when speaking the truth of her love and devotion to him.

“Five minutes won’t change anything,” Neal shook his head. “But if it would make you feel better,” he sighed, letting the door close with a thud. “Go ahead,” he said, sitting down on the couch with his arms folded.

He had quite decided that whatever Belle said, she was leaving inside of five minutes and alone. She knew that expression, she recognised it, not only from a hundred men before him, but one in particular. Those hard eyes and set mouth – that expression could be melted if warmed accordingly.

“Okay, my name is Belle,” she began then, feeling like a child at show and tell, which was a little better than being on trial at least. “I met your father through business, I worked for him, but… but then we became friends.”

Neal scoffed at that.

“Friends? With my father?” he shook his head. “He never had friends. He never even had time for me, neither of my parents ever did.”

“People change, Baelfire,” she tried to tell him, watching the hard expression grow extra steel at the sound of his original name. “Neal, I’m sorry,” she amended. “I’ve just heard so much about you by your given name. Robert spoke of you with such love and kindness. He has spent his life searching you out.”

“He can’t have tried all that hard,” he countered. “You seem to have found me okay.”

“I have friends with… access to things,” she said carefully, knowing that as much as she wanted to be truthful she did need to protect Emma, at least for now.

Henry was not Belle’s secret to share, and that was another conversation for another day. She was here purely to get Baelfire to come visit with Robert, just once, just to let him know he was alive in the world and not completely hating him. 

“Look, I’m sure you’re a very nice person,” said Neal then as he got back to his feet. “You mean well, you just want to help, I get it,” he told her. “But you don’t know my father…”

“Yes, I do,” Belle argued immediately. “I know him very well, and I... I love him.”

Neal frowned a little at that, meeting Belle’s eyes to search out a lie. She meant it. Every single word was the truth, and he wondered at it. 

“Robert doesn’t know I’m here, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Belle went on to explain, seeing light dawn in Neal’s eyes and knowing she was finally getting though. “He told me all about you, how much he loves you and wants to find you so he can tell you that. He knows he did wrong when you were young, that he didn’t spend enough time with you, or show how much he cared, but he does love you, more than he ever loved anyone else,” she promised, her hand going to his arm as she tried to convince him of this truth she knew for sure.

“Except for you, I guess. I mean, he loves you, right?”

Belle’s expression faltered, her eyes dipping to the floor. The truth; she had to tell the truth.

“I wasn’t completely honest with Robert when I met him,” she admitted. “He did love me, once. I hope and pray that he still can even now that he knows that my past isn’t quite what he thought. What I know for sure is that finding you, just seeing you again, even for a day, an hour, it would mean the world to him,” she explained. “I can’t deny, it might help put me back in his good books to be the one that found you, but for the most part, I just want to make him happy. Even if he never wants to see me again, knowing he has you back in his life, it would ease the ache in my heart.”

She forced a smile, even as one big fat tear rolled down from her eye. Belle could act her ass off when she needed to, but today, not a hint of acting was required. This was how passionately she felt, how deeply she had been wounded by what happened between herself and Robert Gold. She was desperate to reunite father and son, and when she told Neal it was more for his father’s happiness than to save her own relationship, he believed her. He couldn’t explain why, but he did.

“Tell me more about him,” he said, the soft tone of his voice a surprise to even him as he felt emotion rise in his throat. “He’s not ill or anything, right?”

“No, he’s fine, healthy,” Belle smiled, swallowing hard, wiping the tear off her cheek. “He just misses you.”

Neal nodded absently, sitting back down, inviting Belle to join him. He wanted to know more, about his father’s life since they had parted. He wanted to know what kind of man he might meet if he did choose to see the Dad he left behind so long ago. Then and only then would he make his informed decision as to whether or not he would go.


	33. Chapter 33

Robert Gold’s quiet evening was interrupted by a sharp knocking at his door. He had just been contemplating a new bottle of Glenfiddich’s finest when the disturbance came, and for a moment he considered letting whoever was calling leave in their own time. He couldn’t imagine one person he would actually want to let into his home tonight. Well, that was a lie, there was always at least one. Even on night’s like this, so many years after their last meeting, so many miles presume to be between them, Gold sometimes wondered if it was Baelfire come to seek him out. One more time, like so many before, he was disappointed to see he was wrong, and confused by the sight of a woman who ought not to be here at his town house at all.

“Mr Gold,” said Ruby with an oddly nervous smile. “I kind of need to talk to you.”

“Ruby? It is well past business hours, in which case I am sure we can have nothing to discuss that won’t wait until tomorrow morning at nine sharp,” he said definitely, moving to close the door on her, but she wouldn’t let him.

“Please,” she urged him, sticking out her hand to the door before it could fully close in her face. “You’re going to want to hear this, it’s important. I wouldn’t come over to your house like this if it was something we could discuss at the office.”

That got Gold’s attention, ever more so than her being here in the first place. She shouldn’t know this address. Even as she was one of his closest employees, not one of them was ever told the address of this house, none but Belle. If she had told Ruby, that meant one of two things, neither of which were particularly pleasing to Gold’s mind as they occurred to him. Either Belle had gone blabbing his personal details as some kind of revenge, or she had been in cahoots with Ruby all along. It was seriously starting to make Gold wonder who he could and could not trust in his company, and that he did not like one little bit.

“How did you get this address?” he asked, as evil-eyed as Ruby had ever seen him.

She held her nerve. After all, this was only Mr Gold. She had dealt with him in worse tempers than this, and it wasn’t as if she was alone here.

“Please, Mr Gold,” she urged him. “Let me come inside to explain.”

He eyed her suspiciously and it was clear he still had half a mind to slam the door in her face. He would be within his rights and Ruby knew that for sure. She was part of a team with thieves and grifters right now, the difference was, these people were not out to get Gold as he might suspect, they were all against Regina. With his co-operation the plan would work out a whole lot more easily and save a lot more people than it injured.

“Answer my question, truthfully mind, and then I might let you say whatever it is you came to tell me,” he said, holding as firm as she was.

Ruby wasn’t sure what to say. If she said she got the address from Belle, which was the honest truth, she doubted he would want to hear more. If she lied, he might see though it, and she really didn’t want to make matters any worse. She was saved the trouble of saying anything at all, when her partner on this leg of the con decide to make himself known.

“She got it from the same place I did,” said Jefferson, stepping out of his hiding place.

To say Gold was shocked would be an understatement. The odd expression that came over his face was almost humorous, and then he burst out laughing as if it were he who had deliberately made a joke. It was a delirious sort of a laugh that made Ruby shudder from head to foot. She didn’t like it at all.

“Is everybody I know in cahoots with the rest?” he asked too loudly then, all over the top hand gestures and still that terrible laugh, laced with darkness.

“Let us in, Gold, and we will explain all,” Jefferson advised, looking over his shoulder to see that they weren’t being watched. “Every second we’re in view of the world, the more complicated this gets.”

Gold at least knew that was the truth. He could do without his neighbours and their suspicions, or anything at all getting back to such people as Regina Mills. He stepped aside and ushered the odd couple in, not knowing yet what they might say to him or if he would really care to hear it.

Jefferson had parked himself on the end of the couch before Gold made it through to his own living room. He chose not to make the boy move, there seemed little point in it, though he gave him a glare for good measure. Ruby hovered awkwardly in the centre of the room, as if she would rather be anywhere but here. It made Gold wonder about her intentions. She could lie, he had no doubt, but perhaps not to him. He knew her well, after so many years, and as much as he felt he needed to, he knew Jefferson too. That was an advantage he had on them that he never had on Belle. He grimaced at the very thought of the one he loved and hated all at once.

“So, er... I guess you can tell by now that I know Jefferson’s death was faked.”

“Sit down, Ruby,” her boss told her tiredly, taking the chair himself and gesturing for her to take the other end of the couch. “All your fluttering about is giving me a headache, as it always has.”

“Right,” she nodded once, placing herself a little way from Jefferson. “So...”

“So, the truth is, Gold,” he took over when his partner started to flounder. “Belle used to be an... associate of mine. We were on the same team,” he confessed.

“Really? There are teams in your line of work?” Gold questioned just a little sarcastically. “Well, yes, I suppose there would be, but perhaps the real surprise is that anyone would want to be on one with you.”

“Charming as ever, Gold,” Jefferson tipped his hat, before tumbling it into his lap. “The point is, when I realised what was happening, that Belle was working both sides of the line, I cut in,” he explained. “Me and the rest of our team, plus a few new recruits,” he smiled, glancing at Ruby, “we came together to help Belle, and she told us quite the tale.”

“She loves you, Mr Gold,” Ruby stepped in fast. “And I know that’s none of my business...”

“No, it is not,” he ground out, voice so low, the vibrations could be felt across the room.

Ruby shifted uncomfortably; “Well, that’s not entirely why we’re here.”

“We’re here about Regina,” said Jefferson then, dark eyes fixed on Gold’s expression as he dropped the bomb. “You want her taken down a peg or two? Our team is about to annihilate her. Squash her like a bug, leave no trace,” he said easily, wiping his hands across each other as if brushing away so much dust.

Gold considered carefully, looking from Jefferson to Ruby and back with a snake-like stare. This team of thieves and grifters that he claimed to be a part of, Gold thought he might have heard of them. There were rumours in business circles, though to his knowledge they had never bothered him or Regina either up to now. Some of their rivals had conveniently disappeared over a period of a year or more, but it all came to an end a few months back. He had heard all about it, even back home in Scotland. It was one of many reasons why he had come over to America, to ensure his own business was safe.

“You think it’s so easy to rid the world of someone like Regina Mills?” he asked, wondering at just how smart these people really could be.

“Not easy,” Jefferson shook his head. “I know that as well as you, but there are plenty of us, all with our own resources and skills. We come together, there’s not much we can’t do.”

Gold looked thoughtful at the idea. Even Ruby could see the cogs turning inside his mind. He was considering their proposal before they had even truly made it. All he knew so far was that they needed his help, but what form that took was undisclosed. Now seemed like a good time to explain all. She glanced at Jefferson who nodded affirmative to the question in her eyes. Taking a breath, swallowing down the nerves, Ruby pressed forward.

“The stock in Regal Corp is going to plummet,” she explained. “We talked Regina into a bad business decision, more than one actually,” she went on, with a smile on her lips that she couldn’t help. “The company could easily fold in days, maybe faster. That leaves Regina in the gutter but it also puts a lot of innocent people out of work.”

“Unless a hero comes along,” Jefferson smirked annoyingly and he knew it too as his eyes sparkled at Gold. “Buy the shares when they’re at their lowest, then when Regina gets deposed, the rep of Regal Corp can be rebuilt, in the image of its saviour,” he smiled, flipping his hat back onto his head and tipping it as he almost bowed to Gold.

He was laying out a good deal here, and he knew it. There was no lie involved for once, no real trickery. Everything he was telling Gold was true. He really could sweep in and save thousands of jobs, maybe a few lives in the process. Regina would be gone, and Gold would reign supreme over the two biggest companies in the land. That suited the team much better since they knew now he was not the ogre they had always thought. The supposed beast was a man beneath it all, and one that could care given half a chance. It was a shock to realise it, but nobody doubted Belle’s word, or Ruby’s backing of it. Gold could be a tyrant if he wanted to be, and make this plan as difficult as he chose, but it wouldn’t change anything. Everything would still be forced to run its course, and if that effected the innocent, well, the team would have to find other ways to help them if they must. David was so unconvinced that Gold would ever be on their side, but the rest at least had some hope. Jefferson and Ruby were both practically holding their breath until Gold made his choice, one way or the other, and he was certainly taking his time about it.

“You seriously think you’re clever enough to put Regina behind bars?” he said at length, meeting the eyes of his associate and his assistant one after the other.

“We don’t think; we know,” Jefferson replied coolly. “I know these people, Gold. I trust them. You trusted me enough to send me up against Regina on your behalf. You trusted Belle too.”

“And look where that got me,” he sneered, immediately letting the pair know they really shouldn’t bring up their friend again.

Ruby never thought to feel badly for her boss, not like this. Belle had really hurt him and she understood that, but she also realised what Gold did not want to see, that it wasn’t really her fault. Belle was doing everything she could to make things up to Gold, and in the end, they all had to hope it was enough.

“So, what do you say, Mr Gold?” she asked then. “Will you help us take Regina down and save the innocents at the same time?”

“Perhaps,” he considered. “it is in my interest to see that snake meet her end, figuratively if not literally,” he smiled almost evilly himself. “Assuming your takeover idea runs as smoothly as planned, it would work out rather perfectly for all.”

“Sign up now and get a free gift with purchase,” Jefferson smirked then as he checked the cell phone buzzing away in his pocket.

“They’re here?” Ruby checked, neither noticing how Gold’s eyes flew back and forth between them as if watching a ping pong match.

Jefferson’s smile widened as he held up one hand, fingers splayed. For five seconds he dropped one digit per beat, and on the last, the doorbell rang.

“You answer it,” said Gold, looking at Ruby.

It wasn’t that he was making her a servant in his home, she knew that. He had trust issues that she well understood. This whole situation was just one person after another double-crossing everyone else. The woman he loved had turned out to be a fraud, and a close employee was working behind his back with an ex-employee he thought he could trust to a degree. It was all very messy. Gold had no guarantees that the person at the door wasn’t about to knock him on the head and steal all his belongings out from under him. They could be the decoy or something, and so Ruby did as he asked and went to the door, already knowing who she would find there.

“Belle,” she whispered into a smile, aware of the explosion her friend’s presence might yet cause, in spite of the companion she had brought along for the meeting. “And you must be Baelfire?”

“Neal,” the man corrected her awkwardly. “I go by Neal now.”

Ruby nodded slowly and ushered them both in. She stayed back in the hallway, not surprised when Jefferson appeared at her side in a second. He wasn’t so sure he wanted to be in the middle of the reunion either, and for more than one reason.

“Gold has all but agreed to our terms. Now feels like a good time for a disappearing act,” he told Ruby, sticking out his elbow. “Shall we?”

“We shall,” she giggled, looping her arm through his as they left together.

In the living room, Gold looked up and saw Belle entering. His face turned angry in a second.

“I told you...!” he began to yell as he got to his feet, but the words died on his tongue when he saw who Belle had brought in with her.

He was grown now, a man in his own right, but Robert Gold would have known his son anywhere. His Baelfire. This could so easily have been another trick, like the last, but no. This time he knew, in his gut, he just knew

“Hello, papa,” said Neal awkwardly. “It’s been a long time.”


	34. Chapter 34

Belle couldn’t look anywhere but into Robert’s face as he in turn stared at the son he had started to wonder if he would ever see again. So many expressions passed over his features, from the happiest of emotions to the most worried and concerned. He feared the worst, that this was another trick, but in his heart of hearts Belle was sure he knew the truth. This was Baelfire Gold, though he may go by any other name outside of this room. She knew it without question, and she saw finally as tears welled in Robert’s eyes that he knew it too. When the two men embraced, she could barely hold in her own feelings, tears springing to the eyes, her heart rising to her throat.

It had taken every ounce of truthful emotion to convince Baelfire to come and see his father. Belle laid bare to him her own life, her relationship with her own dear Papa, that she understood how easy it was to think you didn’t need anybody when in truth you needed every helping hand you could get in this world. Neal, as he called himself, had sympathised with her plight and shared his own story. He had felt abandoned, first by his mother in a literal sense, and then by his father who became more and more withdrawn. When Belle started to explain how he was only prolonging the agony by staying away, that he wasn’t giving Robert a chance to make up for the sins of the past, Baelfire had started to realise she was right.

It might have seemed too much like emotional blackmail in some ways, but when Belle had spoken of her own father’s ill health, she knew it had to make Neal wonder. Robert was fine in that sense, no Grim Reaper looming over him yet, but if the worst should happen, could Baelfire live with himself for never speaking to his Papa again? For staying away for no better reason than childish tantrums and selfish pride? That answer had to be a resounding no, and so he had come. Two or three times on the journey back, he had questioned what he was doing and why. Belle had been quick to reassure him it was the right thing.

They had been in the cab on the way here when her own relationship with Robert came into question. Belle hadn’t fully explained it herself, except to say he meant a lot to her. 

“You really love him?” Baelfire had questioned, trying to meet her eyes, but Belle had looked away.

She waited for what she was sure would come next, some comments about age differences or wanting Gold for his money. Nothing was said on either topic, or any other. Baelfire made a sound of surprise and that was all. By the time Belle pulled her gaze away from the view out of the cab window to look at him again he was smiling. It almost gave her hope. If Robert’s son could believe in a love he and Belle would share, maybe there was a chance yet.

Right now, that chance seemed to be slipping further and further from Belle’s grasp as Robert looked at her over Baelfire’s shoulder, that same angry fire still held in his eyes. He couldn’t love her as before, she wondered if he ever would again, no matter how much she wished it. She had brought his son back to him and that had to mean something, and yet it could not wipe away her betrayal or heal the wounds she had caused.

“You did this?” he said, as he and the man now known as Neal parted a moment. “You brought my son to me?”

Belle only nodded, all words having completely escaped her. It was all she could do not to sob like a child in the presence of these two reunited men. They needed each other. As much as Neal would like to deny he ever wanted or needed his father, as much as Robert would like to pretend it didn’t cut him to the core of his heart not to know where his son had been for all these years; Belle knew the truth. She had seen the longing and the heartbreak Robert had been through, and in the way Neal spoke and acted when it came to his father, she knew he had suffered too, that he somehow missed the relationship he had never even really had with his ‘Papa’.

“She tracked me down,” said Neal then. “Convinced me I was the selfish one if I kept on staying away. That if I missed my chance of reconciling... that I might regret staying away.”

Robert was listening to his son, but his eyes remained on Belle. The words had dual meaning, of course. A reunion between estranged father and son was important, perhaps the most important moment in Robert’s life thus far. What Belle had told Bae was true enough. Leave things too long and live to regret it. At the same time, those sentiments could apply to the two of them, to Robert and Belle. If he stayed angry at her for what she had done, for the way she had deceived him, he could end up bitter and alone again, wishing she was still at his side even after she was long gone.

A part of him, a larger part than he was willing to admit, wanted to let it go. Robert Gold was a hardened man of business, and he thought he had made his heart impervious to all invasion. That had been true, until there was Belle. She had got under his skin, infiltrated his dreams, his mind, his heart and soul. Now to know the truth of her, to be in a place where they had a chance to start again, wipe the slate clean, and love each other as they should, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. To err was human and to forgive was divine, that was what the old phrase said. Robert Gold just wasn’t feeling quite so divine today.

“Thank you,” he said with a nod that was courteous only and nothing more. “Your help is appreciated, but your presence isn’t needed here.”

It was so cold a thing to say. Belle would have appreciated at least to be asked to leave in a more polite manner. As it was she was being dismissed like so much rubbish, like an annoying gnat in Robert’s ear. She felt sick and her feet were just rooted to the spot, even though she ought to leave. It had been foolish to think that this would make any difference, that convincing Neal to come here would really wipe away her crime. She had broken his heart, as well as her own, in the process of deceiving Robert. It was far too soon to expect any kind of forgiveness and she knew it, even though she had hoped and prayed for a miracle today.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered awkwardly, turning to the door and hurrying out.

Neal called after her, but she couldn’t stop to see what he wanted. If he thanked her or was nice to her in anyway, the tears would come again and she couldn’t stand it. Robert wanted her out of his house and so she would go. Rushing out into the street, Belle heard the door thud closed behind her, and a sob escaped her lips. She had to be stronger than this, she just had to. Regina Mills was still at large, and though all parts of the plan were in place, she couldn’t afford to crumble, not now.

Belle had done her part. She had reunited Robert and Baelfire. If nothing else, she was happy about that. Looking back a moment at to the house, she caught sight of the two men through the window and found a smile. She would never regret meeting Robert Gold, even if the circumstances had been unfortunate, even if he could never love her as he seemed to before. She had one shining moment when she believed in true love, and that would live with her forever. Now she saw the bond of father and child rebuilding before her very eyes, and that was worth so much too. Belle could have no regrets about her work, this con, her life choices, she realised, as she walked away down the street. In the end, it was all worth it, it had to be.

* * *

“After all these years...” said Robert as he gazed at his son. “Where have you been, my boy?”

“Around,” Neal shrugged awkwardly as they both took a seat on the couch. “Er, when I left, I didn’t really know where I was going. Some friends of mine from the college talked about coming to America for the Summer, that’s how I ended up here,” he explained.

“No wonder I struggled to find you if you left the country so fast,” his father noted.

“Even if you tried the States, you probably wouldn’t have found me,” Neal smirked slightly. “I got into some bad company for a while, had to survive on those quick wits I got from you,” he explained. “I changed my name a few times. It’s been Neal Cassidy for a while now.”

“Cassidy,” Robert smiled. “Your mother’s maiden name.”

He shook his head, thinking of a time years ago back in Scotland, searching the length and breadth of the United Kingdom for his boy and then moving onto Europe. For the longest time it never occurred to him that his son might have travelled further afield. By the time he had tried, it seemed his boy was living under an assumed name, perhaps more than one. Meeting the eyes of his beloved son, Robert knew he really had been through so much. The trials of life he had endured had made him into a real man, one that Gold felt proud to have met already, before they had hardly begun getting to know each other all over again.

“Y’know, I’m glad I came here,” said Baelfire then. “But things are different now. I’m different, and... and you seem different too.”

“In all these years, people do change, son,” his father smiled. “Would be a strange situation if you hadn’t, certainly.”

“You know what I mean,” he shook his head. “We’re both different people, and maybe that means we’ll get along better now, I don’t know. What I’m saying is, we have to start over. Get to know each other all over again, and that’s going to take time. I can’t just... I’m not a little kid who needs his Papa anymore, not the way I did.”

“I understand,” Gold nodded along. “Did you ever consider that perhaps, selfishly, I need you instead?”

Baelfire smiled at that. His father was so strong, so independent, he never really considered that such a man would need anyone. He knew that wasn’t quite true. It was losing Bae’s mother, Milah, that had changed things. The loneliness had finally broken Robert Gold, left him unable to deal with the world at large and moreover with the son that had to be a constant reminder of the wife that walked away from him. Baelfire had thought the loss of Milah would bring them closer, but instead it drove a wedge between them. By the time he left at the age of eighteen, he actually believed his Papa would barely miss him. They spent so little time together, his father just didn’t seem to care. Maybe he had made the wrong call, particularly in staying away so long, especially if his Papa really had changed and become a better person now.

“I want this to work,” he sighed. “I’m sorry it’s taken this long, I just... I don’t know. I think in part I was ashamed of myself for leaving the way I did. At the same time, I wondered if you’d really want me to come back. You could’ve moved on, got yourself a new wife and kids...”

“Never,” Robert shook his head definitely. “Your mother was the only woman I ever truly loved, and you are my one and only son,” he said definitely, hand gripping Neal’s arm.

He nodded that he understood, opened his mouth to make a comment, but fast changed his mind. Baelfire believed that his father had loved Milah, and that she was the only one from then until very recently to dwell inside his heart. When it came to the here and now, he wondered if such a statement still held true. After all, he had met Belle, and seen the way the two of them looked at each other. Even through the pain that had clearly been caused, they did feel deeply for each other, they could easily be in love.

“And what of your life, my boy?” asked Robert then. “Is there a wife? A child?”

“No,” Baelfire almost laughed at the prospect. “There have been women in my life, not many that really mattered, but... it’s been years since I really believed I could be in love.”

He had one particular woman in mind, but he wasn’t about to explain that to his father, not now. Emma had been special, the one and only that he genuinely thought he could make a future with. That had all fallen apart far too easily, and it still hurt to think of her. Wondering where she was, literally dreaming about running across her in some new town and starting over, thoughts of her were never very far away. With a view to getting off the topic of his own love life, Baelfire spun things around on his father.

“You said you only ever loved my mother before,” he reminded Robert, “but Belle, she’s...”

“She is nothing,” his father snapped, looking away.

“I don’t believe that,” Baelfire shook his head, but his father refused to look at him still.

It was not a subject he wanted to talk about, and yet Robert didn’t want to argue with Bae either, not when they had only just found each other again. Explaining what had happened with Belle would make him look such a fool, and yet he had to wonder how she had presented herself when she met Neal Cassidy. Robert would ask if he could find his voice. In the end, he didn’t have to, because Baelfire chose to tell him anyway.

“She told me something happened, that she loves you but she had to keep secrets and... and that drove you apart,” he explained. “She kept the details to herself and I didn’t like to push, but she seemed genuine.”

“Her type often seem like a lot of things that they’re not,” said Robert coldly, the knife in his heart twisting cruelly as he was forced to think of what came before.

It wasn’t Bae’s fault. He couldn’t possibly know everything that had happened here, and Robert hadn’t a mind to explain to his son right now. He would much rather hear what Bae had been up to all these years, his adventures and such. In all honesty, anything was easier than speaking of Belle.

“A change of subject would be welcome, Bae,” he said, desperation in his eyes that Baelfire was not used to seeing. “I don’t want to fight with you, not after everything.”

He nodded that he understood. He didn’t want that either, but he had something he must say before the topic was forgotten.

“One last thing before we let this drop,” he said. “I can’t say I know this Belle all that well, not as well as you do, but living like I have, on the streets and all, you learn to be a pretty good judge of character,” he explained. “I don’t know what she was or what she did to hurt you, but I do believe she loves you, and honestly? I don’t think you’d be this angry or upset about it if you didn’t love her too.”

Robert wasn’t sure what to make of that, and didn’t have time to dwell on it as Baelfire began to ask him how he came to be in America himself. That was a topic his father was happy to share, leaving out certain details about Regina Mills, perhaps even Cora when he got deep into the story. Anything was preferable to dwelling on the pain of what happened with Belle right now, absolutely anything at all.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Must say a big thank you for all those who continue to leave feedback - you’re wonderful people! :) Also, I need to apologise for the contents of this chapter... Nobody yell at me, k?

It was almost a miracle that it had worked out. David had breathed a very large sigh of relief when they didn’t have to fall back on their contingency plans too much and Regina pretty much walked into their trap. All those people she had tried to manipulate over time had now formed an army to go up against her, and it seemed they couldn’t fail. Those that had come from out of town had now left, even Mary had gone back to their child, leaving only David behind to finish things. He walked into Gold Industries as if it were he who owned the place and straight up to the actual owner’s office, thanks to Ruby. He wondered if the enigmatic Mr Gold would recognise him when he walked in, after all, they had met before, but never in a particularly memorable way. That had been deliberate on David’s part until now.

“Who the hell are you?” asked Gold crossly as this unknown barged into his office.

“Mr Gold, this is David,” Ruby explained from her spot hovering by the door. “I guess you could say he masterminded the plan to bring down Regina.”

“It was a team effort,” he shrugged modestly. “But I am here to speak for those of us that worked against Regina,” he admitted.

Robert eyed the mysterious man suspiciously, then gestured for Ruby to go back to her work. This David was vaguely familiar somehow, though Gold couldn’t really say why. He met a lot of people; at business meetings, charity events, and the like. It was impossible to remember every name and face, though he tried his best with the important ones. 

“I have no quarrel with you, Gold,” said David definitely as he strode up to the desk.

Robert automatically got to his feet, not liking the way he was literally being looked down upon.

“Neither I with you,” he replied. “If you really can destroy Regina as you say, if her business will fall as easily into my lap as your associates tell me...”

“It will, you have my guarantee,” said David with a curt nod. “In fact, the police should be on their way already,” he considered, checking his watch.

“Our friend Detective Swan, I should imagine,” Gold smiled like a crocodile and David tried not to flinch.

“Yeah, Emma has been helpful too,” he confirmed, not willing to say any more in the circumstances. “All I really came here for was to confirm that things are in motion, and to guarantee that you won’t breathe a word of our involvement in Regina’s downfall.”

Gold met David’s eyes and held that gaze. For a thief and a grifter, he seemed to be a rather upstanding honest type of man. Gold knew how that worked. He had played a few people in his time, gone for a few dodgy deals, and worked some loopholes to his advantage. It wasn’t all strictly legitimate business but nothing so very bad. Sometimes you had to bend the rules a little to make things work, sometimes it was even for the greater good. It made men of honour out of people like the two of them, who were technically law breakers and darker souls than they ought to be.

“You have no actual proof that I will keep your names out of this whole sordid business,” said Gold, a statement of fact that neither could deny. “And yet, I will give you my word that not one soul on this earth shall ever hear it from me,” he said, holding out his hand for David to shake.

There was barely a moments hesitation before he gripped the offered hand and shook it firmly.

“Know this, Gold,” he said, not letting go yet, “the only reason I’m trusting that sacred word of yours, or allowing you to make any profit from Regina’s end, is Belle,” he explained. “We needed to keep the staff within Regal Corp safe, those are innocent people, it was only Regina we needed to get rid of. Handing the company to someone who can run it as it should be was always the best option, but the person it went to was only chosen under duress. Belle promised me faithfully that you could be trusted, and I trust her, with my life.”

Gold was a little astounded to hear such a thing. For all that Belle had played him, as much as he convinced himself all her affections were fake, she had convinced her team that he was to be trusted. Some of those feelings she professed to have for him must be real, he couldn’t deny. His own heart was certainly lost to her, even though he wished it wasn’t.

“Honour amongst thieves,” he said absently as David released his hand and took a step backwards towards the door.

“Something like that,” he nodded once. “She thinks you’re worth believing in, Gold. Worth caring about even,” he explained. “Do not prove her wrong.”

Gold didn’t answer that, he didn’t really get the chance even if he wanted to as David swept out of the door and was gone. He had certainly given Robert plenty to think about, no doubt about that.

* * *

“This can’t be happening!” Regina exclaimed as she hammered on her computer keyboard.

“’S all there in black and white, darlin’,” said Killian Jones, feet causally crossed on the edge of her desk as he checked his nails without a care. “Seems your little plan just blew up, all in your pretty little face,” he smiled.

He was annoying her and they both knew it, especially since now really wasn’t the time to be pissing off Regina Mills. Her whole world was crumbling. The deals she’d made this week were supposed to secure her share of the market and more besides. She ought to be celebrating victory instead of dealing with crushing defeat. A news story had just broken about one of her investments. Stocks were plummeting and she was going to be taken down with it if she didn’t act fast. Everything she tried failed. She had used her back up account for a final deal just yesterday that had yet to come off; now she wondered if it ever would. This all had to be part of a scam, her own people had to be in on it, and Regina suddenly felt very stupid as she realised what had happened. She thought of Belle, of Jefferson, of Gold. Every person she had controlled and used must have joined forces against her to bring this about. She wouldn’t be surprised if Hook were in on it too as he continued to smirk annoyingly whilst her ship sank before her eyes.

“I have to go,” she realised, looking around for whatever files she could grab, her mind racing for somewhere to run too. “If this connects back to me... I’ll go to jail!” she realised with some horror.

She always covered her back so well, never had to worry about consequences. There was nothing she couldn’t talk or buy her way out of, even blackmail was an option usually, but this was too big. They had tied everything up so neatly, these con men she had once employed and controlled. Regina never considered for a moment that they could double-cross even better than she could. Perhaps she should have given it more thought. If you lie down with dogs you get fleas, she knew that. Mixing with these people, she had given too much of herself away, too many facts and figures, too much that could be turned against her when all the little pieces were put together into one whole picture.

“Why aren’t you moving?!” she asked Jones angrily.

“Why would I?” he shrugged, dropping his feet down off the desk and tilting his head as he starred at her. “Nothing for me to be flustered over, love. Your blood they’re after, not mine. I’m the nameless, faceless lackey in all this, and never been more proud to be so,” he smiled, getting up to leave.

He stopped short of exiting the room, when Regina spoke again.

“Jones, you owe me,” she reminded him coolly. “We had a deal. Besides, you know that when I’m gone, Gold will come for you again. You might blame him for breaking your lover’s heart, but he blames you for taking her away in the first place and destroying his family. He’ll be happy to see you rot and I won’t be here to have your back this time.”

He knew she was right, and Killian Jones hated that. He would happily see both Regina and Gold destroyed, and had tried to bring it about by playing one off against the other. He hadn’t banked on the group of Robin Hood types that had swept in, ensuring all the destruction fell on Regina’s side of the line. Gold would prosper, and that made Jones uneasy. Besides, what Regina said was true enough. Gold could come after him again and it might not be quite so easy to get away the next time.

“You have a plan?” he asked, as the phone sprang to life on the desk with a shrill ring. “A hastily explained plan?” he amended, waiting for her answer.

A moment of calm seemed to sweep over Regina as she dropped the folders from her arms and went over to the wall. A panel moved and then a secret door swung open. It was no real surprise to Hook, he had seen it before, but he wasn’t quite ready for what she produced from a box way back in that safe. The smirk on her lips was wicked at best and downright evil at worst.

“Never leave anything to chance,” she said as she very carefully handed him the item. “Always have a back up plan.”

* * *

Belle was tired, but she couldn’t sleep. For all the tea in China, all the money in the world, she just couldn’t. She waited up, listening in to the radio she had plugged into the cops frequency. She waited until she heard the words that meant Regina was being arrested, and a smile came to her lips for a moment. It was done, it was a over, and for just a few seconds she felt the peace and joy of a con well done, a job completed. Gold Industries would take over what remained of Regal Corp, saving jobs and families from harm, even as the boss was taken away. Robert had control now and everything would be fine.

Thinking of the man she loved made Belle want to laugh and cry all at once. She was happy knowing she had helped him to find his son, to prosper in business. All in all she hoped that he could at least think of her with a smile for those reasons, if for no other. She loved him so much still, and staying here in town, knowing he was so near and yet so far, Belle wasn’t sure how she would stand that. She had no reason to hang around anymore. Her team were all gone, her work was over. It was probably just about time she went home, to the one place she hardly dare think of most of the time, to visit her father perhaps.

Getting up from her seat, Belle gathered up all the papers from the table, left overs from the planning process for the con. She pulled the metal waste paper bin from the corner and tore the paperwork into pieces before dropping it in. When the bin was half full, she pulled out a box of matches and lit the contents of the bin, watching each piece smoulder and burn. Page after page went in, all evidence of what had been planned here. Belle scanned her eyes over each leaf of information as she dropped it into the bin, right up until a particular page that caught her eye. Frowning hard she pulled her hand back quickly from the flames and stared intently at the text. This was a printed page, something Jefferson must have made a hard copy of for David’s sake since he much preferred that to electronic versions. A diagram was in the centre of the page, with facts and figures dotted around. A design for something, an invention, she supposed. The tag at the bottom proved it came from files passed between Regina’s comp  
uter and another unidentified unit. Belle’s eyes widened when she realised what she might be looking at.

Rifling through further pages, Belle was sure she hadn’t burnt anything related to this yet. She scrambled to find further evidence of how this box was to be used, even though her heart was pounding with the theories already forming in her mind. She had to be wrong, she prayed she could find proof enough to prove it. Bile rose in her that when she realised the only evidence she could uncover pointed in completely the wrong direction.

“No,” she shook her head, knowing her worst fears were true.

She was on her feet and running to the door in seconds, all paperwork thrown into the fire as she went. It never occurred to Belle to put said fire out before she left, or even to properly close her door as she dived into the street. She hailed a cab and ordered him directly to Robert Gold’s townhouse.

“Get me there inside ten minutes, I’ll triple the fare!” she told the driver, who immediately slammed his foot on the gas.

Belle fought to breathe evenly, but her mind was racing. She might already be too late. Hook was working for Regina, at least in part, it was highly likely he had carried out her orders in the last moments before her arrest. He couldn’t go to Robert’s house himself, that would be too suspicious, but there were ways around it. Couriers of the regular kind, or just some poor unfortunate soul who would do anything for the right amount of cash or a free pass out of the country. Belle had seen it all, and she hated that she knew so much, as the cab raced down the streets towards Robert’s home.

“Here we are, Miss,” said the driver as they arrived, and Belle practically threw cash at him as she stumbled from the car.

Rushing up the steps, she slammed her hands desperately against the door, knowing if she yelled it would only stop Robert from wanting to let her in. She needed to get into the house, to check he had taken in no packages from anyone. He looked understandably stunned when he suddenly appeared at the door, and yet he smiled.

“Belle, your parcel has just arrived...”

It was as much as he could say before she lunged past him, almost knocking Gold over. He barely kept his balnace and was overly glad he used his cane to bring him to the door. Still, Belle’s behaviour was extraordinary. When the parcel was delivered, he had to wonder what she would be sending. It had broken another piece of his already shattered heart to think it was a goodbye gift, even if he had been the one to send her away. Now she came here, rushing, yelling, crying, he did not know what to make of it.

“Belle?” he called, giving chase (at a much slower pace) into the living room.

He found her grabbing up the box from the table, the one tied with ribbon and bearing her name as the sender. Before he had a chance to ask what on Earth was wrong with her, she was tearing into the gift with shaking hands, gasping with shock when she saw the contents. Leaning over to see what had stunned her so, Gold got a similar surprise.

“Good Gods!” he gasped at the sight.

It was an electronic device, the like of which he had never seen before, and yet he knew what it was. The digital display counting down gave it away if nothing else. Fourteen seconds, thirteen, twelve...

“There’s no time!” shouted Belle.

_Eleven._

She looked around for something that would help them, even though she already knew nothing could.

_Ten._

The garden was large enough.

_Nine._

It was only a small device, meant to blow up in Robert’s face and do it’s worst.

_Eight._

Belle grabbed it from the box and started to run.

_Seven._

“No!” Robert called behind her, but she didn’t even pause.

_Six._

Out onto the patio, glass doors swinging in her wake.

_Five._

Belle brought back her arm to throw the bomb into the open space beyond.

_Four._

Her foot caught on the last step, pitching her forward.

_Three._

Robert arrived at the door as the device flew from Belle’s hand and she fell to the ground, as if in slow motion.

_Two._

“Belle!”

_One._

The fire ball shot fifteen feet in the air as Robert Gold screamed Belle’s name. For her, the world was entirely black, and she never heard a word.


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, cliffhanger! But hey, I’m updating again and it’s only been 10 days. Also, I promise nobody is going to die in this story, okay? Everybody feel better? On we go! :)

Robert Gold had decided quite a long time ago that he had no capacity to love any other woman but the wife who had long since left him and then departed from the world. Milah had been his one and only, his wife, the mother of his child. After her, he never thought to look for another companion, not seriously. There had been Cora, of course, and they had been close in many ways, but she never had his heart, that he would never allow. It was the most unlikely of women that had finally caught his attention and completely captured him, mind, body, and soul. His precious Belle, no matter what name she may use officially, that was what she would always be to Robert. His Belle. She was beauty and grace, inside and out, as far as he could tell. Falling in love with her had never been a plan, not for a moment, and yet it had happened, almost without his being aware of it. Little by little she had become a part of his world, first his work and then everything else, until she was the one person he could turn to, the only one he wanted to be close with. She had said she loved him too, with such an honest and innocent way about her, he never thought to doubt her affections, not until later.

Closing his eyes against the images that danced through his brain did no good and he knew it wouldn’t, and yet it was all Robert could do to try and hide from the pain they brought. Searching the records, checking in with sources, and suddenly the truth was revealed. This thief, this grifter, this seductress. Belle could not have loved him, he was sure. She was working alongside the enemy, and that suddenly made so much more sense. Her being in love with him almost seemed too much like a dream to be reality. Her double-crossing him for Regina, that was a much more likely truth.

Everyone around him seemed to argue the point. From Baelfire to cohorts of Belle herself to Ruby in the office. They all were quite determined that though Belle was no saint, her sin was not pretending to be in love. Her heart was true, even when nothing else about her was free to be so. Even bound as she was by Regina's rules, nobody controlled what she truly felt, nobody made her love Gold, she just did. He refused to believe, perhaps because his own self-loathing was greater than any other emotion Robert Gold possessed. A beauty like her and a beast like him, it ought to be impossible, ridiculous, wrong, and yet it felt as right as anything he had ever known his whole life.

Acts of kindness might have proved a little of her feeling. Finding Baelfire, having Regina’s company practically handed to him on a plate, Gold wouldn't deny that those actions spoke louder than any words he had read or heard against Belle. By the time she made the ultimate sacrifice, he had no doubt in his mind at all that her heart was true. His darling precious Belle, who had come to save him, to get him away from a bomb-like device that surely would have killed him if she had been so much as a few seconds later. As it was, the explosion took place just beyond the back doors of the house, shattering the glass with an almighty sound. Gold knew nothing of the property damage, couldn't see a thing but Belle as she fell onto the patio, her head pounding hard against the stone tiles.

No tears came. Not then and not now. It wasn’t that Gold didn't know how to cry, but the shock silenced any sobs and dried up any tears he might have wanted to shed. Cradling his fallen angel in his arms, her blood running over his hands as he pulled her head into his lap, he fumbled to find his phone to call an ambulance. Neighbours came running, people he had never given the time of day before, brought over by the sound of the explosion, the sight of flames, and his screaming. Gold hadn't realised how much he was yelling for help until others told him, and more so later when his throat was red raw from the exertion. For hours now he had been sat here in the waiting room of the nearest hospital. They had briefly checked him over, but on finding any blood on his hands and clothes to be Belle's and not his own, he was soon declared fit and well, only suffering from shock. Since then he had waited and wondered about Belle. It occurred to him that she might have family or friends that ought to know where she was, but he wouldn't have a clue who to name or call. Her team that she had spoken of, her fellow thieves, they might just be as close to a family as she had, but doubtless by now they were all long gone, and Gold had no clue where to find them.

When the doctors asked what relationship he had with Belle, Robert never flinched. Even through the fog of shock and panic, he remembered they must be related in order for him to get any real information on her condition. Immediately, he told them he was her husband, not caring then why he had given her name as Isabelle Hart. Women kept their own last names when wed, and it wasn't as if Isabelle was her real identity anyway. That gave Gold some cause for concern, but he had to assume a new identity such as this had been made water-tight, either by Regina, Jefferson, or similar. Her medical records and financials would have to be in order. Nobody would risk living under a name that wasn't fully backed up, nobody with any good sense anyway.

“Mr Gold?” said a voice, and his head shot up to meet the eyes of a cold looking nurse. “This way please,” she said sharply, gesturing for him to follow.

By the time Robert got to his feet and hobbled along down the corridor after her, he almost lost the stupid woman in general hubbub of people. Suddenly he spotted her through an open door and followed to see a man in a white coat waiting for him.

“Doctor?” he checked.

“Ah, Mr Gold, I presume,” he greeted him with a smile that felt inappropriate in the circumstances as he shook Robert's hand. “I'm Dr Whale, I've been running some tests on your wife here,” he explained, gesturing towards the still figure in the bed,

Gold hadn't been ready for the sight that met his eyes then. Belle, his precious Belle, with bandages around her head, tubes and wires fixed to her so that she might breathe, and so her heart was monitored. It was a horrible sight, and yet he could imagine a worse one. At least she was alive. The relief of knowing she was at least still living mixed with the horror of seeing her like this finally brought forth the tears he couldn't find before.

“Honestly, Mr Gold, it looks worse than it is,” said the doctor, patting his arm. “Isabelle has only minor cuts and scrapes for the most part,” he explained. “No broken bones or damaged organs. The only issue really is the bump on the head she sustained when she fell.”

Gold almost laughed at the word 'fell'. She had in effect tripped and fallen, but the circumstances were far from the usual. There was going to be an investigation into exactly what happened, he knew that. Gold would usually hush up such things, but not this time. Whoever did this, whoever ordered it, and he might well know who that was, they were going to suffer, no matter what it took.

“When will she wake?” he asked, staring straight ahead at Belle's pale face.

“That is hard to say,” Dr Whale considered. “As far as we can tell there's no swelling of the brain or anything of that kind, and she is in no way sedated right now. Once the painkillers we gave her wear off, she should come around,” he explained.

Gold moved closer to the bed, sat down carefully on the seat beside it. He propped his cane by the locker and picked up Belle's tiny hand in both of his own. She should wake, sooner rather than later from what the doctor was telling him, the doctor who was still talking though Gold heard not a word. He was hypnotised by the shallow breathing and otherwise unmoving figure of his sweet Belle. She did not deserve this, for all that she had done that had hurt him. Seeing her suffer brought him such pain, Robert almost wanted to double over with the agony of it. If he could trade places with her right now, he would.

“I have other patients that need my attention, but you can stay as long as you want,” said Dr Whale as he put the charts back on the end of Belle's bed and moved towards the door. “If you need anything, Mr Gold, use the buzzer. A nurse will come,” he advised, and then he was gone.

Gold barely heard a word of it. His entire focus was on Belle, her tiny hand held in his own, her soft skin looking paler than ever in the harsh lighting. She was still beautiful, still the only woman alive he could feel this deeply for, and he knew it. The worst of it was that she didn’t know. The last real words he had spoken to her had been harsh and cruel. He sent her away like a servant girl he was done with. She was so much more than that, so very much more.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he sighed, leaning closer. “Never thought to ask the doctor if you could hear me. I’m not so sure I'd’ve believed a word if he told me,” he smiled slightly, even as his eyes continued to water.

“You should’ve let me go, Belle,” he told her then. “That package was meant for me, that explosion... The world wouldn’t have missed a stupid, worthless old man like me. You’re the one the world needs. People love you. I love you.”

Robert swallowed hard, his heart breaking when he realised she probably had no idea he was even here, never mind what he was telling her. That couldn’t matter right now. If this was all the time he had with her, if by some miracle she knew, he had to say everything that needed to be said, everything that she so deserved to hear.

“I’m so sorry, Belle,” he cried, trying to hold himself together but failing miserably with every passing second. “I should’ve listened to you. I shouldn’t’ve just shut you out without letting you explain. I’m a foolish, selfish man. I did the same thing to Baelfire and to his mother. At least with Bae I have a chance to set things right, and that’s all down to you. You’re such an amazing woman, Belle, and... and I so want to believe I can deserve you, but I can’t.”

Robert faltered over what he meant to say, feeling so worthless in this moment. What he said was true enough, he didn’t really deserve a woman like Belle, and perhaps that was why fate was taking her away like this. A thought occurred to him, and Robert’s eyes drifted to the ceiling above. Glancing back down at Belle, he let her hand fall a moment and clasped his own together. Eyes closed he focused on someone he could not see, that he wasn’t even entirely sure he believed in any more, and yet he prayed.

If there was a God, a power above of any kind that had created them all, watched over them, he had to save Belle. She did not deserve this fate, even if Robert did deserve to lose her.

* * *

“I’m so sorry, Bae, I didn’t know who else to call,” said Robert into his cell phone.

He felt ridiculous. When it came right down to it, in the case of an emergency or crisis, he really had nobody to turn to. For a while it had been Belle, but now she was the one in danger, and he just needed to tell someone what was happening and hope they might be of even a little comfort to him. Baelfire had given him his number after their reunion and promised they would keep in touch, but Gold’s only son had a job and responsibilities in Manhattan that he had to go back to, at least for a while. Getting him on the phone was better than nothing.

“It’s okay,” he tried to reassure his father but felt awkward all the same. “Uh, is she going to be okay? Have they told you anything?”

“They believe that she’s my wife, so any information that’s to be had, I will at least get,” Gold explained. “But she just... she looks so pale, so unlike herself. This is all my fault, Bae,” he said, voice strained. “I pushed her away as I pushed you away, and now...”

“And now, you wanna put it right,” Baelfire interrupted. “You’re trying, Papa. You’re there when Belle needs you, and when she wakes up, that’s going to mean everything to her.”

Robert hoped he was right, hoped but could not quite believe. It was true that Belle loved him, she had said so, and she had more than proven it in her actions these past weeks, never more so than today. The fact that it was his son telling him these things, his darling boy, Baelfire, assuring him that he could be a good man and not the monster Gold had considered himself to be for too long, it meant so much.

“Bae, I...”

He was stopped from saying more when a nurse appeared at his side. Robert had urged them to fetch him the moment there was any change in Belle’s condition be it good or bad. His breath hitched in his throat when he realised it could be either yet.

“Mr Gold, your wife appears to be waking.”

“Bae, I have to go,” he said hurriedly into the phone, closing it and moving as quickly as his ankle would allow.

Robert remembered nothing of the journey from the door to Belle’s room, his only focus was getting to her side when she woke to the world. She would be afraid, he was sure, of the stark white room and bright lights. She would need a comforting hand on hers, a promise that everything was going to be okay.

“Get away from me!” she was yelling at the doctor when Robert flew through the doors. “Get away!”

“Oh, Belle!” he gasped, it was such a relief to see her awake, and he didn’t care a jot that she was lashing out at that idiot Whale - why would he care about that?

Robert rushed to his dearest love and moved to embrace her, getting quite the shock when she violently shoved at him just as she had the doctor. She all but screamed at his touch and leaned as far away from him as she could without tumbling from the bed.

“Who are you?” she demanded. “Where am I?”

Gold’s eyes grew wider by the second as he looked from his angelic Belle to the doctor and back again. This wasn’t right. He knew it already and yet he required confirmation still, because his heart would not believe such a cruel twist of fate until then.

“Miss, it’s okay,” said Dr Whale carefully, approaching her again with hands raised in mock-surrender. “You’re in the hospital, and you’re perfectly safe,” he promised her. “Now can you tell me your name?”

Belle stared hard at the doctor, then spared a glance for the nurse, and finally Gold. Her brow wrinkled in severe concentration that bordered on the painful, and then she shook her head.

“No,” she confessed. “I... I don’t know who I am. I don’t know anything.”


	37. Chapter 37

It was a strange sensation to wake to a world and know nothing about it. They said her name was Isabelle, and so that was what she called herself, and yet the name was as unfamiliar as anything else. Her own reflection came as a surprise, as did all the faces around her. There was a man that said he was her husband, and that was especially frightening to Isabelle. To forget oneself and the one you loved enough to marry was terrifying to her, confusing and ridiculous too.

Her memory was entirely gone, at least with regards to facts about herself and her life. No names or faces came to mind with any clarity at all, no events, be they from her childhood or yesterday. Isabelle remembered how to do things, how to feed herself, use the bathroom, walk around, but she had no clue how she liked to dress, what she wanted to eat, when she last took a bath. There was a thick fog over everything but the most basic functions, and Isabelle had never been so scared in her whole life. At least, she supposed she hadn’t, she had no memories to work from.

Dr Whale seemed nice enough. He explained that there had been an accident and she had bumped her head. He refused to tell her any more since they seemed to think she ought to try and recall it all for herself. Isabelle wondered how she was ever supposed to do that, but arguing the point seemed futile.

“Will it come back?” she asked desperately. “My memories, will they ever come back to me?”

“It’s hard to say for sure”, the doctor explained as gently as he could. “Head trauma is a tricky area. Until you woke up, we couldn’t know what damage you might have suffered. Now at least our tests are showing that there’s no lasting physical damage, but memories are a whole other ballgame, I’m afraid,” he told her. “There’s a chance you could just wake up tomorrow and all your memories will have been restored. On the other hand, and I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but there’s a chance you may never get any of your past back.”  
Isabelle wasn’t sure what worried her more right now, never having back what had to be a collection of precious memories, or getting them back all at once and being overwhelmed by things that could not hurt her for as long as they were absent from her mind. It was the oddest situation to be in and Isabelle really wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

There was a Robert Gold hanging around saying he was her husband. He seemed like a nice man, gentlemanly and kind, and Isabelle was sure he only wanted the best for her. He hadn’t said much yet, but she supposed she could understand that. After she calmed down from the initial shock of being without her memories, they had a brief conversation in which he introduced himself as the man she had married and promised he would get her anything she needed or wanted to make herself better again. She thanked him genuinely, but felt entirely awkward. Here was a man completely in love with her, and she was a woman with no memory him. He was perhaps the only person in this situation more hurt than she was. She did not really know what she had lost, but Robert did.

Isabelle looked down at her hands then and frowned. No wedding band. Not everybody wore one, so it wasn’t all that suspicious, but it did seem strange. Married people usually wore rings to signify as such, particularly women. Reaching for the record hanging on the end of her bed, she read the name at the top - Isabelle Hart. Perhaps she kept her maiden name, some women did. She had so many questions to ask and nobody to give her any answers. Her initial conversation with Mr Gold had been cut short because the doctor needed to come and speak with her again, the doctor who would tell her no details of the accident that landed her here or anything he might know about her life. He had probably sworn Gold to secrecy too, but Isabelle was fairly certain she must have some powers of persuasion, especially with a husband who loved her so dearly. Just as soon as he came back, she would have to see what she could glean from him. So far all she had was a name, a marital status, and the assurance there were no children she had tragically forgotten. It was not much to go on, Isabelle thought, not enough in any way at all, but there was nothing she could do until Mr Gold returned. She hoped the wait would not be long.

* * *

Neal Cassidy wasn’t sure what to expect when he arrived at the hospital. His father had called him after the supposed accident that had left Belle unconscious, and made little sense in explaining everything. He hadn’t been too impressed to be getting a call so fast since they agreed to take things slow in their reconnecting process. When Neal realised how serious things were, he didn’t mind so much that he had been contacted. His Papa sure did sound as if he were very upset and it only proved how much he must love Belle, as much as she loved him by all accounts. There was no way for Neal to know all the ins and outs of what had gone on between them. Asking was met with evasive and awkward answers, and so he only concentrated on the state of health both Belle and his father were in.

Neal knew enough to know that the longer a person remained unconscious, the worse matters were. He offered to come sit with his father when time dragged on, but Robert insisted he could cope. He didn’t sound all that convincing, but he kept on saying it all the same. He felt terrible. After all these years apart, Baelfire had finally decided that reuniting with his Papa was a good idea, and the very woman to convince him was now lying in a hospital bed. There was hope for her to live but equally as much chance that she could die, he supposed. It hurt to think about it, to imagine his father sat wondering and waiting, and all alone. It hadn’t taken long for Bae to realise he had somewhere more important to be than his home in Manhattan. He got a last minute deal on the next plane out and now, here he was.

There were already four missed calls on his cell where his father had tried to call and the phone was switched off during travel. Now there was no need to call back, because he was here.

“Papa?” he said as he entered the waiting area and found him sat on an uncomfortably solid chair with his face in his hands.

“Bae?” he reacted with shock at the sight of him, but genuine relief too as he got up onto unsteady feet and gratefully accepted a hug from his boy. “Oh, son. I’m so glad to have you here.”

“I thought you’d need somebody right now,” said Neal as they parted. “How’s Belle?”

A darkness passed over Robert’s face like a shadow that Bae couldn’t understand at all. He feared the worst, and yet he couldn’t imagine his father would still be sat here like this if that had happened.

“She is hardly Belle at all,” he started to explain, dropping back down into his seat as if his legs just wouldn’t hold him anymore - perhaps they couldn’t. “She has awoken, but her memories are gone.”

Neal wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say to that. He felt sorry for Belle, and for his Papa too, but no amount of sympathy was going to cure the problem. Head injuries led to all kinds of consequences, and amnesia could be one of the most cruel in its way. It wasn’t going to kill a person or give them physical pain, but the emotional scarring, the agony for family and friends that were no longer recognised by one they loved so much. It was so very clear how deeply wounded Robert had been when he looked into Belle’s eyes and saw not one spark of recognition. Neal could not begin to imagine how much that had to hurt after everything.

“I’m sorry,” he said, even though he knew it was pointless. “But don’t they have any idea if she’ll get her memory back?” he checked as he took the seat beside his father. “Maybe if she sees enough familiar things or people...”

“There is no-one,” Robert ground out, as angry as he was upset by all of this, and his son did not doubt it for a moment. “All her friends and associates,” he explained in low voice, “They are grifters and thieves. Once their work was done they disappeared. Belle would know how to get a hold of them in an emergency, but I am at a loss, Bae,” he explained desperately. “Even Ruby who worked for me pulled a disappearing act on short notice, and I let her, never knowing all this would occur! I don’t even know if Belle has real family, blood relations,” he went on, slamming his hands frustratedly against the arm rests of his chair. “I have no way of knowing what facts she told me were true and which were lies!”

Neal winced at the clatter of his father’s cane against the floor as it became dislodged from between the chair and the wall. There was just nothing to say for the best here, no good and helpful suggestions to be made. Belle had to have family somewhere, be it parents, siblings, or similar. Even Baelfire Gold had a father, though Neal Cassidy technically didn’t. He winced as he realised that they were never going to get anywhere in tracking down relations of Belle’s if they didn’t know her real name, and given her apparent role in life, he highly doubted it was Belle.

“What name did you give the doctors?” he checked with a frown, realising she had to be living under something whilst she was here.

“Isabelle Hart,” Gold explained. “That’s what she was calling herself when we met, it must be a water-tight identity, though I did add a twist in telling them I was her husband.”

“You had to,” Baelfire nodded. “They never would’ve told you anything if you were just a friend.”

The phrase was so inadequate, and the truth too painful to bear. A hollow laugh escaped Gold’s lips as he thought on it a moment. He was not Belle’s husband and probably never would be. They were not lovers, though they had come close once. She was his employee before now, and his friend, most definitely. Now she was his world, whilst he was one of so many unknowns orbiting around a woman that remembered nothing of anyone, not even herself. 

“I can’t face her, Bae,” he said then, tears coming back to his eyes and a shake to his voice that didn’t belong somehow. “I don’t know where to begin,” he shrugged, turning desperate eyes on his son.

“You start with how much you love her,” he said sagely, tipping off Robert to the fact that Baelfire had been in love at least once in is young life, though that was a talking point for later, not now. “And then memories you shared? Anything that might trigger something in her head...”

“Most of her own memories that she told to me were probably fiction!” he exclaimed in frustration, moderating his tone the moment he realised people could hear. “I could make her worse if I confuse her with her own lies, and what memories can I remind her of that are true? We shared so little, and yet so much...”

He didn’t know how to explain it, and yet Neal understood all too well. There had been a woman in his life once, the only one he would admit to truly being in love with. Their time together had been far too short, and mostly because of his own stupidity. Yet, they had meant so much to each other, become so close so fast. It could happen, and more often than some people thought was possible.

“I don’t know what to do, Bae,” said Robert then, openly crying as he all but fell into his son’s arms.

Neal held him tight and tried to be of some comfort. It hurt to see his father suffer like this, to wonder how often he might have broken down in such a way over his long lost Baelfire. All those years, Neal had believed that his Papa was incapable of fully loving anyone after Milah left and later died. Now it was clear to him that he genuinely did have the capacity love, and to do so deeply. His heart could not be as broken as this if it were not true. He only wished there was some way to help him and Belle right now. As far as Baelfire could tell, there just wasn’t anything he could do except hold his father in his arms and assure him he would be here for him just as long as he needed.


	38. Chapter 38

Robert Gold had been a coward once. It was a long time ago, a time he wished never to recall, but it had been many years now since he declared he would never again cower before anyone. He had made that promise to himself and kept it solemnly all these years, until this moment. To be afraid was one thing, but to be so scared of facing the woman he loved most in the world, Robert could not allow himself to be so foolish. Baelfire had convinced him he must not turn his back on Belle now, and Robert knew his son to be perfectly right, of course, but he felt like such a fool. He had already lied by telling the hospital he was Belle’s husband. That might’ve been fine if she had woken as herself. She would’ve understood the necessity of his deception. As it was, she had no memory but those given to her. The doctor insisted she was not told too much, and Robert was okay with that, since he wouldn’t know where to begin in explaining in any case. He knew not what was true and what was a lie anymore anyway. All he knew for sure was that he loved Belle like no other, and he was fairly certain after all that had happened that she must indeed love him too. That seemed like the one thing he might cling to without fear, Robert thought, as he took a deep breath and pushed on through the door to Belle’s private room.

She was lying perfectly still in the bed, facing away from the door when he entered. He wondered at first if she was sleeping and felt bad when he realised he was right. Belle turned over, disturbed from her slumber, eyes flickering as she made a small sound of annoyance at having to wake. Suddenly she sat bolt upright, eyes scanning the room. Robert suspected her memory loss had hit her anew when she woke to an unfamiliar world, and it was taking longer than usual to get her bearings.

“Belle?” he said carefully as he approached the bed one tentative step at a time.

“Oh, it’s you,” she replied with as bright a smile as Robert had ever seen adorn her face.

That was a good sign, more than he had ever hoped for, but just when he was enjoying the genuinely happy expression aimed his way, it began to fade too soon.

“I’m sorry, I should have come back sooner, but... well, I wasn’t sure if I would be welcome,” he told her honestly.

“Of course you’re welcome,” she told him, gesturing that he should take the seat beside her bed. “Apparently we’re married so...”

The sentence trailed off as she blushed a pretty pink shade. Robert tried not to smirk at the way she suddenly looked so coy and shy. Belle could be that way, he had seen it, but for the most part she was the strong confident type, and he loved her for both those sides of her character, and so much more besides. She believed he was her husband, because that was what the hospital believed. To tell her anything else right now would just lead to further confusion and require Robert to explain things that he knew he couldn’t right now. Better to let her believe the truth of their marriage for now at least.

“I’m so happy to see you smile, Belle,” he told her, considering reaching for her hand, but changing his mind quickly, not wishing to make her any more uncomfortable than was necessary. “There was a time when I feared I should never see such an expression from you again.”

She looked upon him with an expression of fondness that Robert could not quite decipher. Belle did not know him, and though she was being told they were in love, she could not feel any evidence of it in her heart, he was sure. Still the softness of her eyes and smile were so warm and hopeful, he just wanted to bask in their glow forever.

“I dreamt about you,” she admitted then, ducking her face behind her hair the moment the words were spoken. “I, er... I don’t remember every detail now, but you were there with me, and we were... we were dancing, I think,” she tried hard to recall. “Was it a dream or a memory?” she checked then.

Robert smiled widely.

“I took you to a ball,” he told her, his voice too soft to his own ears, but in this moment he couldn’t have cared for anything in the world. “Several months ago now, but you were radiant, Belle, and I was the proudest man at the event to have you in my arms.”

She smiled too at the pretty words. He seemed so kind and sweet. It was clear enough to Belle that her husband loved her. She just felt so foolish not being able to feel the same, because she simply remembered nothing about him, except perhaps a brief moment of dancing at a ball some months ago.

“I feel so bad,” he shook her head then. “It’s frightening enough to have forgotten everything about myself, my life, but to forget you?” she said sadly. “Why would my mind blank you out? Of all things and people that I might want to repress, I can’t understand why I would ever want to forget you.”

Robert felt nauseous, even as her hand landed on his own and squeezed. She thought him so wonderful, her doting husband. Even that was a lie, as much of their courtship had been. It wasn’t all his fault but he certainly wasn’t as perfect and wonderful as Belle would believe. He ought to tell her, and yet everything that came to mind to explain himself, to explain everything, it just felt wrong. The doctor warned him not to give away too much, to allow Belle to try and remember for herself. Besides, so much of what they knew of each other before had been fabricated, especially details he thought he knew of her life. Belinda French was mostly a mystery to him, not a person he could wax lyrical on if he even wanted to. Isabelle Hart was another story. He knew so much of her, but how much of that connected back to Belle’s true identity was anyone’s guess.

“Robert?” she prompted him to speak when he had been quiet too long, just staring into space. “Is something wrong? Apart from the obvious,” she added with a wry smile, since of course she knew her memory loss was a problem in and of itself.

“I was only thinking, dearie,” he sighed, trying to find a smile for her but failing badly. “The way you describe the man I must be... I am no saint, Belle. Far from it,” he told her.

“But you are my husband,” she repeated what she was sure to be true, wondering at the way he seemed to wince at those words. “I do love you, don’t I?”

“You did,” he admitted, nodding his head. “Oh, Belle, you have no idea how I wish I could remind you of what we were to each other,” he said desperately, gripping her hands inside of his own.

She was just as beautiful and special as she ever had been. If she had woken in the same state as before, everything would have been fine, he would’ve made sure of it. As it was, with her memory gone, he had to wonder if they would ever get a semblance of a happy ending. Right now, he would just settle for Belle knowing who he was and looking upon him with her genuine kindness, the like of which he had hardly ever known before.

“The doctor said anything might trigger a memory,” she told him, “and yet he insists I shouldn’t be told anything of my past or my life because I have to recall it for myself.”

“I will help you, Belle,” her so-called husband swore to her, kissing one of the hands he held. “In any way I can. We shall overcome this together.”

She was so touched by his words and actions both. He held her hands so tight but at the same time with such a gentleness. He truly loved her, of that much Belle was sure. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Robert Gold was her ever-loving husband, and even if she never got her memories back, she was fully willing to give her all to this marriage, to find a way to fall in love with him all over again. She did not think for a moment it would be difficult to do.

The truth was, when she first saw the man they called her husband, she was a little surprised. He was several years older than her, she could tell, and his eyes were dark and troubled. He had led a life with many trials, she was certain, though Belle could never explain how she knew. Meeting his gaze, she swore she could see deep down into his heart and soul. It was warm and inviting in those dark eyes of his, and Belle could happily sink into that place and live there forever. A part of her felt that she had quite fallen in love with him on sight, however foolish that may seem. Perhaps it was not so very strange, that on instinct alone she should know him, love him in some way. Her memories were gone, but feelings were so much stronger than mere thought sometimes. The heart could overrule the mind so easily, however dangerous that could be.

“Perhaps it’s like a fairytale,” she said, releasing one of her hands from his grasp and moving to push his hair back from his forehead. “Perhaps true love’s kiss can break the curse?”

“Belle...” he said too softly, all other words abandoning him at her soft touch.

“What harm can it do?” she asked, albeit shyly. “You’re my husband. You have every right to kiss me, and... and I want you to, please?”

It was such a strange request, to beg a simple kiss of the man that ought to want nothing more than to please her. Gold hated knowing that their marriage was a lie, that he was getting the chance to be this close to her on the strength of an untruth. Yet, he could deny her nothing, or himself the chance to sate the yearning stirring inside.

Robert moved from the chair to the edge of the bed, his face so close to Belle’s by now that he could feel her soft breath against his lips. She was shaking, perhaps as much with anticipation as nerves, and honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised to realise he was doing the same. It was so strange. He loved her so much and she said before she felt the same. They had shared kisses before now, and in his dreams, so very much more.

Belle took a breath, let her tongue run over her lips and waited for the moment that she ached to arrive. Just when she thought the anticipation of this kiss was going to be the death of her, she felt the soft touch of Robert’s lips against her own. Her eyes fell shut at the contact as she savoured the moment.

Robert had intended only one brief sweet moment before he pulled away, however much he was tempted to press his luck. The moment that he tried to move, Belle’s arms wrapped around his neck and back, keeping him close. When she tried to deepen their kiss, there was no will in him to deny her. He gave into the moment for as long as it lasted, not understanding her passion, but desperate to take whatever was given to him, for it may be all he ever had of her love. It was only when he tasted the salt of her tears that he knew the truth.

When they parted for air a moment later, arms still around each other, faces so close each other’s expression was but a blur, he already knew what had happened. Her sparkling eyes came into focus, a bright smile confirming what he hardly dare let himself believe. She had been right. As crazy as it sounded, they really had just broken a curse with the magic of their love.

“Belle?”

“Yes,” she answered with a gasp of laughter that couldn’t be helped. “I remember.”

She moved in to kiss him again, and he was happy to let her. Roberts’ tears mixed with Belle’s own as they fell into each other’s arms, all desperate kisses and loving promises.

“Robert, I’m so sorry, I love you.”

“I love you, Belle. I’m sorry, my darling.”

They spoke over each other, but it didn’t matter. By now they both knew how they felt, what they meant to each other. They had to have proved it by now in various ways. Over and over they made their vows, as solemn and true as at any wedding. The irony was lost on them in this moment of love and passion.

“I never thought you’d forgive me,” she said eventually, as they parted at last, both gasping for air.

“Belle, my dearest one, how could I not?” he asked her, his hand at her cheek, in her hair as he kept her as close as possible, their foreheads touching still. “For all that there were lies in the beginning, you... your heart was true. I should’ve known that.”

“I wanted to tell you,” she told him, crying hard by now. “So many times I thought if I just told you about Regina and what she was trying to make me do, I... I would have, but I was afraid. She had so much power, she knew where my father was and... and then the team...”

“Doesn’t matter now,” he promised her, kissing her lips again. “Regina is gone, for good with any luck. I already have men hunting down her cohorts that sent that device to my house, the one that...”

“Don’t, Robert,” she urged him when his voice broke with emotion.

Belle knew very well now what had happened. All her memories came back in such a tidal wave when he kissed her. She knew all that had occurred, from her childhood through the years she had grifted her way across the country, to these last few months of knowing Robert Gold and falling in love with him. She recalled the moment she had realised the danger he would be in and hurried to his home. The explosion was blurry, but that was when she hit her head, Belle was sure. None of it mattered now, she had saved Robert’s life, and he seemed eager to share however long they both had left together.

“Can it be this simple?” she asked then, wondering at the way he could look at her with such love in his eyes after everything. “I can’t deserve you. You don’t even know the real me!”

“I know enough,” he insisted. “I know your heart, Belle. Your good, kind heart, that learnt to love a man who could never deserve such devotion.”

They were both crying, laughing, wondering if this was all a dream, because it certainly seemed that way. In the space of ten minutes, they had come to realise they were both still as much in love as ever, and that none of the problems they had faced could come between them anymore. At last they were free to be who they truly were, no fear of what might happen to them, absolutely nothing to stand in their way.

“I want you in my life, Belle,” said Robert solemnly. “I can’t imagine being without you. Whatever name you had, whatever things you did that you’re not proud of, it doesn’t matter to me. You saved my life, you brought my son back to me, and above all this you loved me when I thought no-one ever could,” he told her. “To me you will always be my Belle, my precious, darling, Belle”

“I love you, Robert,” she cried as they fell into another kiss, followed by a tight hug from with neither ever wanted to let go.

It seemed that after everything, maybe they didn’t have to worry about letting go anymore. They had found each other, against all odds, and overcome every obstacle put into their path. Belle and Robert were as in love as ever they had been, and in this moment their true love was the only thing in the whole world that mattered.


	39. Chapter 39

Belle had never known a life such as this, and had assumed she never would. She had no memory of her mother, and much of her childhood with her father was painful to recall. When her career of grifting and thievery began, she told herself that life would never be a fairytale or have a happy ending. Love was for children and foolish adults that didn’t know any better. Belle thought she had hardened herself enough to never fall, not because she really wanted to but because she had to, because it was safer. Her heart had not counted on Robert Gold or how he would make her feel.

Getting out of her line of work never came easy. Belle knew at some point she was bound to get dragged back in by someone, most likely someone connected to her old team who was desperate and needy. In those exceptional circumstances, she knew she would use her old skills again, but for now she was done. The worst of the people she would like to see cut down and jailed had been achieved. Regina Mills was in jail, Killian Jones too, for the part he played. All those connected to them, those that might try to resurrect her empire had been squashed like bugs on the windshield. Between herself and Robert, Belle knew they had finally succeeded in finishing the job. Now all that was left to do was bask in quiet glory, and be happy together.

It was a month since she was released from the hospital, with a tight hold on her so-called husband’s arm and a small patch of bandage still stuck to her head. Isabelle Hart walked proudly out of that hospital, knowing she would forever keep that name now, or at least until she decided to go the whole hog and become Mrs Gold for real. Belinda French was but a distant memory, and though she would always exist in some small way as the daughter of a good and kind man, she was not the woman Belle wanted to be anymore. She had redefined and rebuilt herself, and finally she was happy with the character she had evolved into, the woman she would now be for the rest of her life, her true self.

Belle wasn’t just a woman in her own right, but a soon-to-be wife, a step-mother, and strangely a step-grandmother too. Getting to know Baelfire had been strangely easy, and though they were much closer to each others age than she and Robert, it didn’t matter much. Belle was a great help, Robert had said so, especially when the truth was revealed about a certain Neal Cassidy and Emma Swan. To think that the first innocent Belle had helped to save, dear little Henry, was none other than Robert’s grandson. He had not known the boy existed then, neither had Baelfire, but now they were a family, all five of them. It was perhaps an odd unit of people that did not seem to fit together at all, but they were happy enough. The emotions they had all gone through in this past month were far from easy to handle, but they were making it work.

The irony was not lost on Belle. She was now becoming very good friends with a cop of all people, and having a hand in raising a child she was by no means old enough to be grandmother to, despite being the true love of his grandfather. The very fact that she had originally come here to dupe Robert Gold, never realising that she had been the one to save his grandson from an evil adoptive mother so many years ago. Yes, there were whole heaps of irony piled into this family situation, and they made Belle laugh even if that seemed inappropriate somehow.

Today, they had all spent the day together at Robert’s townhouse. He had thought to sell after what happened to Belle there, but she would not allow it. This was a place where they had got to know each other, where they had saved each other’s lives. Perhaps hers had been the most obvious rescue when she removed the explosive device from the place before it could harm Robert, but he had saved her too in the end. He insisted that her home be with him, that he be allowed to help extricate herself from a life of thievery, if that was what she wanted. Knowing it could mean nothing but her future happiness with the man she loved, Belle jumped at the chance. Between them, they double-checked every detail of the identity that had been handed to her, and removed as much as possible of every other person she had ever thought to be. Contacting Jefferson for assistance had been necessary, but didn’t take much effort. He and Ruby were still in contact, however dangerous that might seem. Belle had a funny feeling she would   
not be the only notorious thief reinventing themselves one final time so they might exist in happiness and love.

Arms wrapping around her waist from behind startled Belle in her task of washing up cups and saucers at the sink. Robert pressed soft kisses to her neck and sighed into her hair.

“Thank you, dearie,” he said near her ear. “You were wonderful today, as you always are.”

“It’s not difficult to enjoy the company of such nice people,” she smiled, turning her head to look at him. “Baelfire is such a credit to you. Emma has always been a reliable ally and now she can be a friend too. Little Henry is just a darling,” she grinned.

“That such a family should be connected back to me, I can hardly understand,” he shook his head, which immediately made her frown.

“Robert,” she said with somewhat of a scolding tone as she dried her hands and turned in his arms. “You can deserve this. You do,” she insisted. “Too many people have tried to tell you that you’re a monster, when you’re not at all. You’re very much a man, the man I love,” she smiled, her hands locked behind his neck, her lips eager to be on his own.

When she kissed him, Robert always forgot everything else. Though her powers of persuasion and distraction had been quite deliberately and finely honed over her years as a grifter, Robert knew that was not the only reason he melted at her touch. This was the love of a good woman, bowling him over every single time he experienced it. He had hoped Belle would agree when he insisted she move into his home, and had been gracious enough to offer her a room of her own. This she had used, every night since the hospital discharged her, determined as she seemed to be that they get to know each other in every other sense before taking a step that would be worth waiting for. Robert wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry when she made such a vow. There was a desire in him for Belle that he sometimes struggled to control, but at the same time it was almost a relief to have her at arm’s length a while longer. He was not the young man he used to be, and in all honesty, there was some apprehension in Robert Gold about trying to   
prove himself as a man after too many years alone. Tonight it seemed the conversation must be had one way or the other, as Belle deepened the kiss between them and slid her hand down to grab his own. Her eyes held a look he knew oh so well, though it was much more shy than he might have expected from an experienced woman of the world like her.

“Belle,” he said too quietly, too nervously and he knew it. “You understand, I’m not...”

“Sshh,” she put her finger to his lips. “You are the man I love, Robert Gold,” she promised him. “Nothing else matters to me.”

There was no answer to those words, nothing more that needed to be said. They climbed the stairs then, hand in hand, quite content to forget the rest of the world even existed for as long as they cared to pretend it did not.

* * *

“You are the most beautiful, wonderful, incredible woman I have ever known my whole life,” said Robert, every complimentary word punctuated by a kiss against her skin that made Belle giggle and sigh.

“I am only that because of you,” she replied, encouraging his lips back on hers. “I never thought I could feel so much, to have a love like this in my life...” her voice shook with emotion, taking away all he other words she meant to say.

What they had shared here had been so beautiful, a little awkward and tentative at first perhaps, but perfect in the end. That was what true love did. It took away everything else and demanded to be the only thing present that mattered. Belle meant the words she said, that she had never known anything like this in the whole of her life. She saw in Robert’s eyes a reflection of her emotions. He was as overwhelmed by this as she was.

“Belle, however did I come to deserve such a woman as you?” he asked, rhetorical of course though he wondered daily at the answer, never more so than now as she curled her naked form around his own and let her head come to rest of his shoulder.

“I never thought I could be capable of love like this, of feeling it, of inspiring it in someone else,” she sighed happily.

There they lay in a warm and happy silence, bodies still humming from their passion shared and spent. When Belle moved then, it was so sudden she actually made Robert startle a moment. The bright smile on her lips as she looked down at him quite took his breath away, and was all he saw in spite of the fact she was up on her knees and still naked as before.

“Robert Gold, my true love,” she giggled, feeling as silly as school girl even though she were perfectly serious. “I... I wondered, would you marry me?” she asked then.

All the air went out of Robert Gold’s body in one great rush and then came back again equally as fast. This woman that he loved, this perfect creature that seemed to have been designed to be his other half, and now she was asking him if he would be her husband. It was more than he could bear.

“Yes, Belle,” he promised her faithfully. “With all that I have and all that I am, yes.”

She all but fell on top of him in a cry of joy, planting fervent kisses all over his face and neck. He reciprocated willingly, pulling her body down flush with his, hands sliding over her smooth skin, reigniting the passion that had burned between them just minutes before. They were friends, lovers, and soon to be husband and wife. Robert and Belle had certainly come a long way in the few short months they had known each other. For the first time in their lives these two cynical people finally believed that maybe, just maybe, there was such a thing as a happy ending, and that it was finally within their grasp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s it, all done. I hope you liked the ending - please do leave a final comment and let me know! Thanks to all the readers, the kudos-givers, and most of all the commenters throughout the story. You’re all wonderful :)


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